Immunocytes and Cell-Mediated Immunity in the Pathology of Reproduction

Abstract

The reproductive system is from the immunological point of view highly heterogeneous and sophistically regulated. The germinative central organs hold a privileged status: they must guarantee full tolerance of developing and mature male and female germinal cells. This tolerance is secured by anatomical barriers and complex immunoregulatory mechanisms.¹ General ovarian functions, as well as the particular development and functional maturation and regression of the human corpus luteum (hmCL) are under the well-known strict neuroendocrine control. The roles played by the immune system in ovarian control have been hypothetically outlined², but they are still incompletely proven. To understand better the roles of immune cells and their products during the whole life span of hmCL we have studied, using the immunoperoxidase method and its evaluation by computer-assisted image analysis, the dynamic distribution of leukocytes within various structures of the hmCL.