[en] Purified antibodies to laminin or Type IV collagen administered intravenously to pregnant mice were found to localize in the basement membranes of all maternal tissues as well as the parietal and visceral yolk sacs and trophoblast basement membranes but not in embryonic tissues. Antibodies to Type IV collagen induced a higher incidence of abortions, retroplacental hematomas and fetal deaths. When administered intraamniotically, both antiserums were embryotoxic. The functional consequences of the attachment of antibodies to these specific basement membrane antigens appear to be hemorrhage within the parietal and visceral yolk sacs and separation of fetal from maternal tissues. Complement activation appears to play an important role in the interruptions of pregnancy, because this was not observed in strains of mice lacking C5, the fifth component of complement, in mice depleted of C3 by administration of cobra venom factor, or in mice injected with the F(ab) fragments of antibody to Type IV collagen or laminin.
