How the Immune System Allows Embryo Implantation – EFS
The European Fertility Society (EFS) shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Embryo implantation is one of the greatest paradoxes in human biology.
The maternal immune system is built to recognise and fight anything ‘non-self.’ Yet in pregnancy, it must tolerate and support the embryo – a unique entity carrying both maternal and paternal antigens.
For implantation to succeed, a delicate balance must be struck:
- A pro-inflammatory environment to allow the embryo to attach and invade.
- An immune-tolerant state to protect it from rejection.
This finely tuned interplay involves:
- Uterine natural killer (uNK) cells
- HLA-G molecules
- Cytokines and chemokines
- Regulatory T cells (Tregs)
When this balance is disrupted, it can contribute to challenges like recurrent miscarriage, failed implantation, or complications such as pre-eclampsia.
Understanding this ‘tolerance-defence paradox’ is opening the door to new therapeutic insights in fertility care.
Read more in the full article
Read the professional article from Julie Morgan, PhD Researcher, RGN, MSc, APM (PFQ), published via the European Fertility Society.
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