Seller M J
Z Kinderchir. 1981 Dec;34(4):306-14. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1063366.
The curly-tail mouse is an animal model for human neural tube defects (NTD). Around 60% have either overt lesions of the neural tube or a curly tail. They were used to examine the gene/environment interaction which is implicated in the aetiology of human NTD. Both a fetal and a maternal genotype contribution to the cause, together with a triggering effect of an environmental component, could be demonstrated in the mice. The environmental limb of the cause appears to be relatively specific. Under certain conditions, administration of an environmental agent to the pregnant curly-tail mouse markedly reduced the incidence of NTD in her offspring. Primary prevention of NTD was thus shown to be possible. The apparent primary prevention of NTD in humans is also described. A multicentre collaborative project which supplemented women "at risk" for NTD with a standard multivitamin tablet with folic acid before they conceived again and in the early stages of pregnancy was associated with a recurrence of only 0.5% compared with 4.3% in unsupplemented controls at a comparable risk. The difference is statistically significant (p = less than 0.01).
卷尾鼠是人类神经管缺陷（NTD）的动物模型。约60%的卷尾鼠有明显的神经管病变或卷尾。它们被用于研究与人类NTD病因相关的基因/环境相互作用。在这些小鼠中，可以证明胎儿和母体基因型对病因的影响，以及环境因素的触发作用。病因中的环境因素似乎相对具有特异性。在某些条件下，给怀孕的卷尾鼠施用一种环境因子可显著降低其后代中NTD的发生率。因此，已证明对NTD进行一级预防是可能的。文中还描述了人类中NTD明显的一级预防情况。一项多中心合作项目，让有NTD“风险”的女性在再次怀孕前和怀孕早期补充含叶酸的标准复合维生素片，与未补充的可比风险对照组中4.3%的复发率相比，补充组的复发率仅为0.5%。差异具有统计学意义（p<0.01）。
