Embryotoxicity as a Marker for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

Ian L. Sargent, I L Sargent, A Dokras, Anuja Dokras
American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 1996 · vol. 35(4) , pp. 383–387 · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0897.1996.tb00498.x · PMID:8739458 · W2050240069
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 1 in-corpus citation
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher

Abstract

Some cases of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss may be due to embryotoxic factors present in the mother's serum. In vitro assays have been devised to study the effect of these factors on pre-implantation, peri-implantation, and somite stage rodent embryos. Embryotoxic activity has been found in a high percentage of recurrent aborters but is also present in women with endometriosis and unexplained infertility, suggesting that there may be a range of factors acting at different stages of development. Embryotoxic activity may be predictive of pregnancy outcome and has been shown to be decreased after hormone and immunotherapy. However, its true value can only be assessed when the nature of the toxic factors is understood. Preliminary characterisation studies suggest that toxic activity may due to both immunological (antibodies or cytokines) and nutritional factors.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Abortion, Habitual Abortion, Habitual Cytotoxins Embryo, Mammalian Embryo, Mammalian Embryonic and Fetal Development Abortion, Habitual Animals Biomarkers Biomarkers Cytotoxins Cytotoxins Embryo, Mammalian Embryonic and Fetal Development Female Humans Pregnancy

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cited by (1)

References (11)

Cited by (1)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-11T06:19:48.454388+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:11:02.671803+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK