Abstract
Summary
Rabbit embryos in the morula stage were cultured in vitro in Ham's F-10 medium containing different serum samples and uterine fluid samples from control and semen-immunized rabbits. The percentage of embryos that blastulated and developed and the average blastocyst size did not differ between control and immune serum samples, whereas immune uterine fluid significantly depressed these parameters in comparison to control uterine fluid. Control and immune uterine fluids were fractionated by gel filtration and ion exchange column chromatography and the two predominant immunoglobulin classes, SIgA and IgG, separated. Of the two classes of immunoglobulins and two other fractions obtained from the gel filtration column, only immune SIgA proved to be embryotoxic. This anti-embryo effect of the immune SIgA was removed by absorption with spermatozoa and goat anti SIgA serum. Use of immunofluorescence also indicated that immune SIgA, but neither uterine nor serum IgG, cross-reacted with embryonic tissue. Thus, it appears that the immunologic-induced embryo mortality observed in utero in the rabbit may be due to a specific cross-reaction of the embryo with secretory IgA.
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