Monitoring of murine feto-placental growth by pregnancy-specific serum proteins in an experimentally induced fetal growth retardation model.

Fetal growth retardation was induced in 14 day pregnant female mice by ligation of the uterine arteries. Maternal serum levels of pregnancy-associated murine protein-2 (PAM-2) and murine alpha-fetoprotein (m-AFP) were recorded. The ligation resulted in a reduction in fetal growth and a corresponding decrease in maternal circulatory m-AFP, whereas placental growth and maternal circulating PAM-2 were not significantly affected.