Abstract
The purpose of the investigation was to clarify the influence of immune response in the mother upon the embryonic development. One ml and two ml of rabbit serum-protein were injected intraperitoneally into mice on day 12 of pregnancy. The administration of heterologous protein resulted in the supression of body weight increase of pregnant mice and also in the decreased number of live fetuses and the increased number of absorbed embryos. The treatment with foreign protein during pregnancy produced malformed fetuses in mice. Dose-response relationship was obvious in the findings. A teratogenic spectrum was confined to cleft palate and limb abnormalities in relation to the timing of treatment. It is of interest to note that the malformations were often accompanied with hematomas in their neighborhoods, i.e. at the snout-tip and the tips of the hand and the foot.
