Laboratory models for the study of the peri-implantation period

The greatest risks to mammalian pregnancy occur during the peri-implantation period (passage through the uterotubal junction, blastulation, zona shedding, embryonic signaling and recognition, blastocyst attachment, postattachment events initiating placentation). Conventional markers and screening methods do not provide the means to clarify the relationship between exposure of a reproductively competent woman to a xenobiotic compound and the specific error in the functional expression of an embryogenetic process identified by impairment or deletion of that process. Laboratory models which provide the flexibility of in vitro culture methods and allow integration of cellular and molecular techniques have identified cell-specific, stage-specific markers that could focus on the mechanism of xenobiotic action. In vitro models have been used to define postattachment trophoblast cell differentiation. Trophoblast specific peptide hormones prove to be valid markers of established pregnancy. They provide no assessment of the risk to the embryo during the peri-implantation period. The relationship between developmental time of exposure and risk is discussed in terms of trophoblast differentiation.