Immunological implications of ultrastructural studies of goat X sheep hybrid placentae
Dent, J.; McGovern, P.T.; Hancock, J.L.
Nature 231(5298): 116-117
1971
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-0836 PMID: 4930089 Document Number: 38000
Pregnancy was established in goats either by mating with a ram or by insemination with ram semen. Following in utero fixation, the placenta was removed and examined histologically. At the 34th day of gestation the trophoblast was firmly adherant in both normal and hybrid animals, and active cell division was evident. However, the proportions of maternal placental blood vessels containing platelets was much greater in hybrid animals, and by 38 days this difference was even more accentuated. At this stage degenerative changes had started to appear at the trophoblast-uterus junction. Similar histopathological lesions have been noted in antigen-antibody phenomena, and the authors proposed that the death of the hybrid was caused by an immunological reaction.