Pregnancy after allogeneic uterus transplantation in the rat: perinatal outcome and growth trajectory

2014

Objective To investigate whether allogeneic uterine grafts in a rat model, with tacrolimus immunosuppression, can harbor pregnancies that result in offspring with normal postnatal growth. Design Experimental animal study. Setting University hospital. Animal(s) Lewis rats as uterus donors and Piebald-Virol-Glaxo rats as recipients. Intervention(s) Animals were allocated to one of the following three groups: allogeneic uterus transplantation with end-to-side anastomosis to the external iliac vessels and immunosuppression with tacrolimus (UT+Tac; n=10); sham surgery and immunosuppression with tacrolimus (Sham+Tac; n=10); or sham surgery (Sham; n=10). The rats were subsequently introduced to ma…