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Interplay of oestrogens, progesterone and polypeptide growth factors at about the time of implantation

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Early Pregnancy Loss

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Abstract

Comparative studies of the factors involved in the establishment of pregnancy highlight the importance of endocrine, paracrine and possibly autocrine mechanisms in the interactions between embryo and mother. Such studies frequently though not invariably presage those concerned with regulatory factors in human pregnancy. Species differences, however, need to be taken into account and this is particularly true with respect to the various forms of implantation and placentation that are found, ranging from the non-invasive epithelio-chorial type at one extreme (as in the pig), to that of the invasive haemochorial type at the other, as in man.(1) Among the species to be considered here, implantation in the sheep is associated with invasion of the uterine epithelium by specialised granulated binucleate cells of the fetal epithelium which subsequently contribute towards the formation of a syncytium in localised regions of the uterine wall referred to as placentomes (Figure I). This migration of fetal cells which is initiated at about the time of attachment, continues throughout gestation.(2,3) Implantation in the mouse involves trophoblast invasion of the uterine epithelium and stromal cells, decidualisation of stromal cells followed by formation of the haemochorial placenta with blood released from maternal vessels to circulate through channels within the trophoblast before returning to maternal circulation. When considering the factors which contribute to the maintenance of pregnancy at and immediately after implantation it is apparent that oestrogens and progesterone are among the key components not only in the endocrinology of implantation but also in the maternal recognition of pregnancy, whereas polypeptide growth factors have an emerging role in the processes of uterine growth, vascularisation and embryo development, and it is to these events we shall now turn.

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Authors
  1. R. B. Heap
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield, S5 7AU, UK

    Frank Sharp MD, FRCOG

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St Mary’s Hospital, Praed Street, London, W2 1PG, UK

    Richard W. Beard MB, BChir(Cantab), MD, FRCOG

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© 1988 The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

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Heap, R.B. (1988). Interplay of oestrogens, progesterone and polypeptide growth factors at about the time of implantation. In: Sharp, F., Beard, R.W. (eds) Early Pregnancy Loss. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1658-5_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1658-5_31

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1660-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1658-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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