why human body does not develop immune reaction to the fetus
health advisory
Hospital
Doctor Yu
2007-11-8 19:08:41
Answers:
There was an interesting article a few years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding fetal cells and scleroderma. Scleroderma is a rare disease that usually affects females who have had kids. The disease is characterized by thickening and hardening of the skin in its most benign form. The theory suggest that during birth some fetal cells are released into the mother's blood and get embedded into their face or fingers. As time goes on, the mother's immune system attacks these fetal cells and as the theory suggest a chronic host vs graft reaction occurs. I thought it was sort of interesting.
dont know exactly but i would think that it knows when it is a healthy fetus or an irregular one. in the latter case, miscarriages happen
http://www.cnn.com/health/9808/21/fetal..
The fetus is not a disease or virus,so it does not trigger the immune system.The fetus has the same biology that the mother does..usually-only if the child has a different Rh (Chemical difference) from the mother does the mother risk having an immune response and two different types of blood would be in the same body,sicking one of them.
This is a great question and the focus of much research. Implantation is similar to an organ transplant. It seems that the immune system has mechanisms that are tolerogenic that allow for fetal ingraftment - some of these mechanisms prevent the development of autoimmune diseases - which maybe why during pregancy some diseases are alieviated.
why human body does not develop immune reaction to the fetus?