Anaphylaxis as a physiological mechanism of masking of embryonic antigens.
It is known that anaphylactic mediators induce blood-coagulation, which results in thrombus-formation in the place of the anaphylactic reaction. This thrombus is likely to mask the antigen which induced the anaphylaxis, thus protecting it from further immune effect. The fact that only higher mammals have IgE-antibodies, exclusively high content of mast cells in the uterus, degranulation of placental mast cells near the embryonic tissue, presence of "fibrinoid" on the mother-embryo frontier and other known facts enable us to suppose that anaphylaxis is a physiological mechanism which protects the embryo from damage by the maternal immune system.
D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000502:physiology*; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D014599:Uterus / Q000502:physiology
D007073:Immunoglobulin E