
%0 Journal Article
%A Flint, AP 
%T Interferon, the oxytocin receptor and the maternal recognition of pregnancy in ruminants and non-ruminants: a comparative approach
%J Reproduction, Fertility and Development
%D 1995/06/01
%V 7
%N 3
%P 313-318
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/RD9950313
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/RD9950313 
%X Ruminant and non-ruminant members of the Artiodactyla appear to use different mechanisms for the maternal recognition of pregnancy. In ruminants, the trophoblast of the developing blastocyst produces a characteristic Type I interferon of the interferon-tau family; this acts by blocking endometrial synthesis of the oxytocin receptor. A similar mechanism applies to domestic ruminants (sheep, cow, goat) and deer. In roe deer, which have embryonic diapause and are monoestrus, there is no requirement for a pre-implantation blastocyst signal to ensure maternal recognition of pregnancy. This paper compares the mechanisms leading to the maternal recognition of pregnancy in ruminants with that suggested to occur in a non-ruminant (the domestic pig). 
