Abstract
Mature female rabbits immunized with T-3-BSA developed highly specific antisera against T. Animals with the highest antibody titres revealed elevated plasma T-levels up to 2 000 ng/dl (normal: 15 ng/dl). Nevertheless, mating was successful and pregnancy uncomplicated. Immediately after normal delivery, the newborns were bled and fixed in Bouin's solution. In all neonatal plasma samples high concentrations of antibodies against T were found with identical characteristics as in the maternal plasma. T-levels were excessively elevated: up to 2 500 ng/dl in females and up to 25 000 ng/dl in males (normal: 20 ng/dl). Histological examination, however, revealed normal sex differentiation in the females, but inhibited male sex differentiation in the males: partial retrogression of Wolffian duct derivatives, absence of prostatic glands, feminized phallus with reduced corpus fibrosum, and marked hypospadias; testicular differentiation was normal, Müllerian ducts were absent. Our experiments indicate that hormones essential for normal fetal development can be neutralized in the fetus by their respective antibodies raised in the mother.
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Bidlingmaier, F., Knorr, D. & Neumann, F. 78: Inhibition of normal male sex differentiation in male offspring of rabbits actively immunized against testosterone (T) before pregnancy. Pediatr Res 10, 883 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197610000-00069
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197610000-00069