Rapid transport of seminal immunoglobulin to distal parts of the female reproductive tract in rabbits.
Bucks immunized with the bacteriophage-cloning vector fd-tet display strong humoral seminal immunity of 1.5 x 10(6) fd-tet neutralizing units (nu) ml-1. We used this model to study the distribution of seminal immunoglobulin in the female reproductive tract after copulation and artificial insemination. In contrast to artificial insemination, significant (P < 0.01) amounts (147 nu ml-1, i.e. about 1.25 x 10(-4) input ejaculate) of neutralizing activity reached the uterus within 20 min of a single copulation, which is evidence for rapid transport of seminal plasma to distal parts of the tract. Oviducts were also quickly impregnated with antibodies to fd-tet, which persist in the distal compartments for at least 24 h.
Jappel
D
D
Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague.
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000276:immunology; D003307:Copulation; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000276:immunology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology*; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011817:Rabbits; D012661:Semen / Q000276:immunology*; D013083:Sperm Transport / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014599:Uterus / Q000276:immunology
D007074:Immunoglobulin G