The Production of Congenital Malformations Using Tissue Antisera

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Abstract
Summary: Teratogenic rat kidney and placental antisera were injected into rats that were eight days pregnant and were sacrificed two and five days later to study the localization of these antisera in the maternal organs and embryonic sites. Both these antisera had specific localization in the basement membrane of the kidney glomeruli, adrenal, liver, spleen and parietal yolk sac membrane. No in vivo localization of teratogenic sera was observed in the young embryo, the trophoblast, the amnion and many other maternal tissues. These studies lend support to two of the three hypotheses that attempt to explain the mechanism of action of teratogenic antisera, namely, 1) the interference of the function of the trophoblast, decidua or extraembryonic membranes (in this case, the yolk sac) and 2) production of maternal disease which is then reflected in the fetus (localization in many maternal organs). A direct effect on the fetus was not supported by these studies, but was not refuted by them either. Finally, the significance of the hypothesis that yolk sac pathology could result in teratogenesis is discussed, since it could have important implications, not only with regard to antisera-induced malformations but because these findings may be applied to malformations induced by chemicals and other environmental influences.

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