Erythroblastosis models. A review and new experimental data in monkeys.

The current status of erythroblastosis fetalis in man and in animals is briefly reviewed with emphasis on present knowledge of nonhuman primates as models for the disease. Our studies in crab-eating macaques indicate that presence in a mother's serum of potent antibodies reactive for red cells for her fetus will not necessarily cause erythroblastosis; in one case the maternal antibodies did not penetrate the placental barrier, and in two cases although the fetal red cells were maximally antibody-coated, they remained undamaged and the disease failed to develop.