Reproductive immunology: a prospective marginal field of biomedical sciences.

This analytical overview attempts to cover the main achievements and trends in research and clinical investigation in animal and human reproductive immunology published in the 3-year period (1982-1985) between Fifth and Sixth Varna Symposia. New and successful steps have been made in immunodiagnostics, immunotherapy, and immunoprophylaxis of immunologically conditioned infertility. Considerable progress has been made in isolating and purifying immunogenic reproductive tract components that might be candidates in the preparation of contraceptive vaccines. With the modern developments in immunochemistry and cytoimmunology, including monoclonal biotechnology, new biological factors have been identified that play a role in integral regulation of the immune reactions to reproductive antigens, both locally and systemically. The practical significance of reproductive immunology is emphasized.