Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system localization in human fetal heart.

Objective: The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family consists of the neuropeptides CRF, Ucn I, II and III and the binding sites CRFR1, CRFR2 and CRF-BP. It regulates stress response and the homeostasis of an organism. In this study, we examined the presence of the CRF system in the human hearts of normal and pathological fetuses.

A complete corticotropin releasing factor system localized in human fetal lung.

Objective: The Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) system (neuropeptides CRF, Ucn I, II, III and binding sites CRFR1, CRFR2, CRF-BP) is responsible for stress regulation and the homeostasis of an organism. Herein we study the CRF system in human normal and pathological fetal lungs.

Design: Lung tissues from 46 archival human fetuses were divided into Group A (normal), Group B (chromosomal abnormalities) and Group C (congenital disorders).

Congenital disorder of true cyclopia with polydactylia: case report and review of the literature.

Cyclopia is a rare type of holoprosencephaly and a congenital disorder characterized by the failure of the embryonic forebrain to properly divide the orbits of the eye into two cavities (the embryonic forebrain is normally responsible for inducing the development of the orbits). As a result a birth defect in which there is only one eye is developed. This eye is centrally placed in the area normally occupied by the root of the nose.

Immature malignant sacrococcygeal teratoma: case report and review of the literature.

Immature malignant sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) is a rare tumor, deriving from the three germinal layers and is found in the sacrococcygeal region. It is the most frequent site of teratomas in the fetus. A nut-brown, solid tumor with cystic areas with a ten-cm diameter is reported in the sacrococcygeal region of a female fetus of 23 weeks and with a weight of 308 g.