This is the second edition of this Opinion Paper, which was originally published in October 2003.
The traditional immunological perspective of pregnancy is that the semi-allogeneic fetus will be rejected unless the mother’s immune system is suppressed. To date, there is no convincing evidence that reproductive failure occurs as a result of immune rejection. Contemporary concepts in
reproductive immunology now emphasise the cooperative nature of the interaction between the maternal immune system and the fetoplacental unit in governing pregnancy outcome. An aberrant immune response – either auto- or alloimmune – has been postulated to underlie some cases of ‘unexplained’ infertility, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) failure and recurrent miscarriage. Despite a paucity of evidence, a variety of immune tests and treatments for reproductive failure have been introduced into clinical practice.
This paper can be downloaded as a pdf below.
