We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Embryonic diapause in humans: time to consider?
- Authors
Ptak, Grazyna E.; Modlinski, Jacek A.; Loi, Pasqualino
- Abstract
Background: When a competent blastocyst stage embryo finds itself in an unreceptive uterus, it delays development. In around one hundred species representing various orders, this delay is known to be reversible, but this phenomenon - termed embryonic diapause (ED) - is not considered a general characteristic of all mammals. Presentation of the hypothesis: Recently, however, we demonstrated that a non-diapausing species, the sheep, is capable of ED, suggesting the hypothesis that this is in fact an ancestral trait common to all mammals, including humans. Testing the hypothesis: In spite of the obvious difficulties in testing this idea, we propose a combination of indirect observations on human fertility patients, and direct study of the embryos of non-human primates. Implications of the hypothesis: Support for our hypothesis would require revision of obstetric interventions routinely performed when a human pregnancy extends beyond the due date.
- Subjects
DELAYED implantation; BLASTOCYST; SHEEP as laboratory animals; ANANDAMIDE; PREGNANCY
- Publication
Reproductive Biology & Endocrinology, 2013, Vol 11, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1477-7827
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/1477-7827-11-92