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Poly-implantation and Embryonic Death

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Plains Vizcachas

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Abstract

Embryo implantation in the vizcacha begins at 18 days post-coitum (dpc). It occurs in the caudocranial direction, that is, from the caudal to the cranial uterine segments. For each uterine horn, between 5 and 6 implantation sites (IS) are found. In each IS, an interstitial and antimesometrial implantation is observed, with an elongated blastocyst due to the growth of the visceral endoderm. Between 26 and 70 dpc, the death and resorption of the embryos begins in the cranial and middle IS; on the other hand, the caudal IS keep their growth and development rate, giving rise to two precocial pups after 5 months of gestation. Former studies concluded that death was not due to infectious agents, superfetation, or macro and microscopic variations in the uterine horns. However, later studies revealed that the uterine horns are heterogeneous in their anatomy and physiology along their craniocaudal extension. It is proposed that the uterine glands and blood vessels would have a differential role between the IS that are resorbed and those that will survive. It was observed that embryonic death in this species follows a morphological pattern like that registered in murine rats and mice, considered classic physiological and experimental models. That pattern is characterized by the presence of hemorrhage, neutrophilic infiltration, necrosis, and fibrosis. Morphological and physiological similarities observed between related and phylogenetically distant species allow us to propose the vizcacha as an unconventional model for studying spontaneous embryonic death.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank ECAS (Estación de Cría de Animales Silvestres) from the Ministry of Agroindustry of the Province of Buenos Aires, (Argentina) for capturing the animals, and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Histología y Embriología Descriptiva, Experimental y Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Francisco Acuña, Mirta Alicia Flamini & Claudio Gustavo Barbeito

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), La Plata, Argentina

    Francisco Acuña, Enrique Leo Portiansky & Claudio Gustavo Barbeito

  3. Laboratorio de Análisis de Imágenes, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Enrique Leo Portiansky

  4. Departamento de Cirurgia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária y Zootecnia, Universidad de São Pablo, San Pablo, San Pablo, Brazil

    María Angélica Miglino

Authors
  1. Francisco Acuña
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  2. Enrique Leo Portiansky
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  3. María Angélica Miglino
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  4. Mirta Alicia Flamini
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  5. Claudio Gustavo Barbeito
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Francisco Acuña or Claudio Gustavo Barbeito .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Luciano Luis Rasia

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Claudio Gustavo Barbeito

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Francisco Acuña

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Acuña, F., Portiansky, E.L., Miglino, M.A., Flamini, M.A., Barbeito, C.G. (2024). Poly-implantation and Embryonic Death. In: Rasia, L.L., Barbeito, C.G., Acuña, F. (eds) Plains Vizcachas. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49487-1_12

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