The Pregnancy-Associated Glycoproteins: Biochemical Aspects and Clinical Application for Pregnancy Follow-up

Pregnancy diagnosis is an important part in reproduction management of ruminants. In the last years, a large polymorphic family of placenta-expressed proteins has been discovered in ruminant species and used for pregnancy diagnosis. Members of this family are named pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG), being synthesized in the mono- and binucleate cells of the ruminant’s trophectoderm. Part of them are released in the maternal blood circulation where they can be assayed by different laboratory techniques. Due to large variety of expressed molecules and to large variations in the post-translational processing of the PAG, different immuno-systems present different ability to quantify the PAG released in blood. The sensitivity (92 to 100%) and specificity of PAG radioimmunoassay when used for pregnancy diagnosis are very high. The assay of PAG can also bring very interesting information for researchers working in programs focused on the study of embryonic and fetal mortalities, as well as on embryo biotechnology (ET, FIV, clonage), animal nutrition, or infections diseases resulting in pathologies affecting the pregnancy.