Passage of Serum Albumins from the Mother to the Fœtus

Abstract

IT has long been recognized that mammals transmit antibodies to their young before the latter are capable of making their own. In current opinion, antibodies are accorded a special status denied to other proteins, and indeed to macromolecules generally, for only antibody protein is generally conceded to pass through the layers of cells separating the maternal and fœtal circulations without undergoing metabolic degradation.