Pharmacological safety during pregnancy: the principles of teratogenesis and teratogenicity of drugs

Abstract

Drugs used during pregnancy simultaneously have an impact on 2 populations — fetal and maternal. The article is devoted to teratogenic drugs exposition; it points out the need for further research in the field of pharmaceutical safety during pregnancy. Authors analyzed the multiplicity of the congenital disorders in infants, including birth defects cuased by drug application. For ethical reasons, researchers can not conduct any studies on the safety of medicines during pregnancy. Authors suppose that collection of additional information during the marketing phase as a part of the routine pharmacovigilance program and the targeted pharmacoepidemiological trials with the current evaluation of the teratogenic risk of drugs will help to achieve the goals.

Keywords

• pregnancy
• drugs
• safety
• teratogenicity
• birth defects
• teratogenic mechanisms.