Effect of extra-genital Schistosoma mansoni and Echinostoma caproni infections on serum levels of pregnancy-associated murine protein-1 during murine pregnancy.

Maternal plasma levels of pregnancy-associated murine protein-1 (PAMP-1) were measured by rocket immunoelectrophoresis in BALB/cABom mice experimentally infected with the two intestinal parasites Schistosoma mansoni and Echinostoma caproni. In the first half of pregnancy the PAMP-1 level was significantly lower in the infected females compared with the healthy controls, indicating that PAMP-1 is not essential for implantation and early gestation. In the latter half of pregnancy a rapid increase in the plasma levels of PAMP-1 in the infected females was recorded. This might suggest that pituitary GH secretion is restored in the infected animals during the second half of gestation.