Foetal Death (foetal + death)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Clinical aspects of parvovirus B19 infection

JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 4 2006
K. BROLIDEN
Abstract. Parvovirus B19 is a significant human pathogen that causes a wide spectrum of clinical complications ranging from mild, self-limiting erythema infectiosum in immunocompetent children to lethal cytopenias in immunocompromised patients and intrauterine foetal death in primary infected pregnant women. The infection may also be persistent and can mimic or trigger autoimmune inflammatory disorders. Another important clinical aspect to consider is the risk of infection through B19-contaminated blood products. Recent advances in diagnosis and pathogenesis, new insights in the cellular immune response and newly discovered genotypes of human parvoviruses form a platform for the development of modern therapeutic and prophylactic alternatives. [source]


A previous infection with Toxoplasma gondii does not protect against a challenge with Neospora caninum in pregnant sheep

PARASITE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
E.A. Innes
Sheep immunized with Toxoplasma gondii (Toxovax®) prior to pregnancy were tested for their ability to withstand a challenge at 90 days gestation with 107 Neospora caninum (NC1) tachyzoites. The antibody responses in sheep following immunization with T. gondi were specific for T. gondii whereas peripheral blood mononuclear cells responded to both T. gondii and caninum antigen in vitro. This suggested that there was induction of crossreactive immune recognition in the sheep, at least at the cellular level. Following challenge of sheep at mid-gestation with N caninum, no febrile responses were recorded in the group of sheep which had previously received Toxovax® while significant febrile responses were recorded in the group of sheep which received N challenge alone. Antibody responses to N developed in all sheep following challenge and antibody responses to T,gondii were boosted in the group of sheep which had previously been immunized with Toxovax®. No antibodies to were observed in the sheep which received the challenge alone. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from both groups of sheep responded to T.gondii N.caninum antigen invitro and interferon gamma was present in the cell-free supernatant from activated cells. However despite evidence of the induction of crossreactive immunity between T.gondii N.caninum this was not sufficient to prevent foetal death. The group of sheep which had received Toxovax® prior to pregnancy and the group of sheep which only received the N.caninum challenge experienced 100% foetal death compared with 0% in the unchallenged control group. Vaccination prior to pregnancy with Toxovax® did protect against foetal death following oral challenge at 90 days with 2000 oocysts which caused 100% foetal death in a control challenge group. [source]


Luteal Deficiency and Embryo Mortality in the Mare

REPRODUCTION IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS, Issue 3-4 2001
WR Allen
Four separate components combine to produce the progesterone and biologically active 5,-reduced pregnanes needed to maintain pregnancy in the mare. The primary corpus luteum (CL) is prolonged beyond its cyclical lifespan by the down-regulation of endometrial oxytocin receptors to prevent activation of the luteolytic pathway and its waning progesterone production is supplemented from day 40 of gestation by the formation of a series of accessory CL which develop in the maternal ovaries as a result of the gonadotrophic actions of pituitary FSH and the equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG). From around day 100 the allantochorion secretes progesterone and progestagens directly to the endometrium and underlying myometrium and, in the last month of gestation, the enlarging foetal adrenal gland secretes appreciable quantities of pregnenelone which is also utilized by the placenta to synthesize progestagens. Between 10 and 15% of mares undergo foetal death and abortion at some time in gestation and the majority of these losses occur during the first 40 days of gestation when the primary CL is the sole source of progesterone. Yet, all the available evidence suggests that untoward luteolysis is not common in this period and the losses that do occur have other underlying causes. Beyond day 40 the secondary CL receive powerful luteotrophic support from eCG and from day 80,100 until term the supply organ (placenta) and target tissues (endometrium and myometrium) are in direct contact with each other over their entire surface. In the face of this interlocking and failsafe system for progestagen production throughout pregnancy, and despite a paucity of evidence that a deficiency of progesterone production is a cause of pregnancy loss in the mare, it is surprising, and worrying, that annually many thousands of pregnant mares throughout the world are given exogenous progestagen therapy during part or all of their gestation as a form of preventative insurance against the possibility of pregnancy failure. Basic investigative research is required urgently to validate or debunk the practice. [source]