EFFECT OF H-Y AND H-2 ANTIBODIES ON REPRODUCTION IN MICE

A highly inbred colony of mice (Balb/cj) from Jackson laboratories, USA was raised to produce H-Y antibodies. A control outbred colony of mice (Swiss) was maintained to study the effect of H-Y and H-2 antibodies onsex ratio, reproductive performance, litter size and fetal wastage. A significant (P ≤ 0.01) sex ratio was found in the inbred control group. However, the H-Y antibodies produced by hyperimmunizing inbred female mice before fertilization reduced the sex ratio. The combined effect of H-Y and H-2 antibodies on the outbred mice produced more lethal congenital abnormalities. There was a significant ((P ≤ 0.01) loss in the reproductive performance in male mice born from females, both from inbred and outbred colonies, hyperimmunized with H-Y antigen.