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Medical ProgressFree PreviewArchive

Transplantation Immunity and the Maternal-Fetal Relation

List of authors.
  • R. E. Billingham, F.R.S.†

Exchange of "Cellular" Homografts between Mother and Fetus and Its ConsequencesIt is now generally recognized that the normal placenta does not constitute a perfect cell-impermeable barrier and that some exchange of cells between mother and fetus must be regarded as a fairly common occurrence in man, and probably in other mammals, too.Since the fetomaternal passage of red cells was first postulated to account for Rh sensitization, numerous independent investigations, using different "markers," have confirmed that passage of fetal red cells into the maternal circulation occurs in 10 to 20 per cent of normal pregnancies.64 65 66 67 68 69 Most estimates of the . . .

Funding and Disclosures

* From the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology.

I am deeply indebted to my colleague, Dr. Willys K. Silvers, for invaluable advice and criticism and to Miss Barbara A. Hodge for assistance in preparing the manuscript. Some of the work cited was supported by a United States Public Health Service grant (CA-05927).

Author Affiliations

PHILADELPHIA

† Member of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology; Wistar Professor of Zoology, University of Pennsylvania.

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