Sex Difference in Trophoblast Behaviour on Transplantation

Abstract

STUDIES on conditions resulting in the premature termination of pregnancy indicate that the male conceptus may be less well adapted to survive in the maternal host than the female. Sex chromatin determinations¹ carried out on chorionic villi of spontaneously aborted foetuses have shown that the majority of foetuses lost are male^2,3. Moreover, more male foetuses than female seem to be involved in premature termination as a result of antepartum haemorrhage⁴. Because the trophoblast is the foetal tissue most intimately associated with the maternal host during pregnancy, we decided to examine the influence of foetal sex on the ability of trophoblast cells to survive as allografts.