Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (837 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Early pregnancy loss during the embryo, mammalian stage of development. In the human, this period comprises the second through eighth week after fertilization.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Blastocyst Disintegration; Disintegration, Blastocyst; Disintegration of Blastocyst; Embryo Resorption; Resorption, Embryo; Embryo Death; Death, Embryo; Embryo Deaths.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Abortion, Spontaneous; Death
- See also
- Abortion, Habitual; Fetal Death
Related concepts
- Embryo
- Mammalian
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 1,519 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Embryo Loss” (counts retrieved 2026-11-04). 132 of them (8.7%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2010-2019 with 566 records.
Reviews account for 103 records (6.8%) and meta-analyses for 7. Randomized controlled trials number 10 (0.7%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 272 |
| 2000-2009 | 549 |
| 2010-2019 | 566 |
| 2020 onward | 132 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 103 | 6.8% |
| Meta-analyses | 7 | 0.5% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 10 | 0.7% |
Method: PubMed query "Embryo Loss"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-11-04.
Reading the evidence in kidney, urology and women's health
Kidney, urinary and reproductive health research uses lab markers (such as creatinine), imaging, symptom scores and registry data on pregnancy and birth. Findings about pregnancy are especially sensitive to who was studied and when in pregnancy exposure occurred. Nothing on this page is advice about treatment, fertility or pregnancy; speak to a qualified clinician. Check the population, the outcome measured and whether the study accounted for other health differences between groups.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progesterone is essential for protecting against LPS-induced pregnancy loss. LIF as a potential mediator of the anti-inflammatory effect of progesterone | 2013 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 80 | cc by PMID 23409146 · DOI · PMC3567061 |
| Experimental Zika Virus Infection in the Pregnant Common Marmoset Induces Spontaneous Fetal Loss and Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities | 2018 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 69 | cc by PMID 29717225 · DOI · PMC5931554 |
| Knockdown of hypothalamic RFRP3 prevents chronic stress-induced infertility and embryo resorption | 2015 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 57 | cc by PMID 25581095 · DOI · PMC4289855 |
| Early identification of bovine pregnancy status and embryonic mortality† | 2025 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 8 | cc by PMID 40155196 · DOI · PMC12078079 |
Progesterone is essential for protecting against LPS-induced pregnancy loss. LIF as a potential mediator of the anti-inflammatory effect of progesterone [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration to mice on day 7 of gestation led to 100% embryonic resorption after 24 h.
- Closing excerpt
- Our observations support the view that progesterone plays a critical role in a successful pregnancy as an anti-inflammatory agent, and that it could have possible therapeutic applications in the prevention of early reproductive failure associated with inflammatory disorders.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (289 words)
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration to mice on day 7 of gestation led to 100% embryonic resorption after 24 h. In this model, nitric oxide is fundamental for the resorption process. Progesterone may be responsible, at least in part, for a Th2 switch in the feto-maternal interface, inducing active immune tolerance against fetal antigens. Th2 cells promote the development of T cells, producing leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), which seems to be important due to its immunomodulatory action during early pregnancy. Our aim was to evaluate the involvement of progesterone in the mechanism of LPS-induced embryonic resorption, and whether LIF can mediate hormonal action. Using in vivo and in vitro models, we provide evidence that circulating progesterone is an important component of the process by which infection causes embryonic resorption in mice. Also, LIF seems to be a mediator of the progesterone effect under inflammatory conditions. We found that serum progesterone fell to very low levels after 24 h of LPS exposure. Moreover, progesterone supplementation prevented embryonic resorption and LPS-induced increase of uterine nitric oxide levels in vivo. Results show that LPS diminished the expression of the nuclear progesterone receptor in the uterus after 6 and 12 h of treatment. We investigated the expression of LIF in uterine tissue from pregnant mice and found that progesterone up-regulates LIF mRNA expression in vitro. We observed that LIF was able to modulate the levels of nitric oxide induced by LPS in vitro, suggesting that it could be a potential mediator of the inflammatory action of progesterone. Our observations support the view that progesterone plays a critical role in a successful pregnancy as an anti-inflammatory agent, and that it could have possible therapeutic applications in the prevention of early reproductive failure associated with inflammatory disorders.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 23409146 · DOI · PMC3567061
Experimental Zika Virus Infection in the Pregnant Common Marmoset Induces Spontaneous Fetal Loss and Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- During its most recent outbreak across the Americas, Zika virus (ZIKV) was surprisingly shown to cause fetal loss and congenital malformations in acutely and chronically infected pregnant women.
- Closing excerpt
- These findings underscore the key role of the placenta as a conduit for fetal infection, and demonstrate the utility of marmosets as a highly relevant model for studying congenital ZIKV disease and pregnancy loss.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (153 words)
During its most recent outbreak across the Americas, Zika virus (ZIKV) was surprisingly shown to cause fetal loss and congenital malformations in acutely and chronically infected pregnant women. However, understanding the underlying pathogenesis of ZIKV congenital disease has been hampered by a lack of relevant in vivo experimental models. Here we present a candidate New World monkey model of ZIKV infection in pregnant marmosets that faithfully recapitulates human disease. ZIKV inoculation at the human-equivalent of early gestation caused an asymptomatic seroconversion, induction of type I/II interferon-associated genes and proinflammatory cytokines, and persistent viremia and viruria. Spontaneous pregnancy loss was observed 16-18 days post-infection, with extensive active placental viral replication and fetal neurocellular disorganization similar to that seen in humans. These findings underscore the key role of the placenta as a conduit for fetal infection, and demonstrate the utility of marmosets as a highly relevant model for studying congenital ZIKV disease and pregnancy loss.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 29717225 · DOI · PMC5931554
Knockdown of hypothalamic RFRP3 prevents chronic stress-induced infertility and embryo resorption [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Whereas it is well established that chronic stress induces female reproductive dysfunction, whether stress negatively impacts fertility and fecundity when applied prior to mating and pregnancy has not been explored.
- Closing excerpt
- This points to RFRP3 as a potential clinically relevant single target for stress-induced infertility.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (147 words)
Whereas it is well established that chronic stress induces female reproductive dysfunction, whether stress negatively impacts fertility and fecundity when applied prior to mating and pregnancy has not been explored. In this study, we show that stress that concludes 4 days prior to mating results in persistent and marked reproductive dysfunction, with fewer successful copulation events, fewer pregnancies in those that successfully mated, and increased embryo resorption. Chronic stress exposure led to elevated expression of the hypothalamic inhibitory peptide, RFamide-related peptide-3 (RFRP3), in regularly cycling females. Remarkably, genetic silencing of RFRP3 during stress using an inducible-targeted shRNA completely alleviates stress-induced infertility in female rats, resulting in mating and pregnancy success rates indistinguishable from non-stress controls. We show that chronic stress has long-term effects on pregnancy success, even post-stressor, that are mediated by RFRP3. This points to RFRP3 as a potential clinically relevant single target for stress-induced infertility.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 25581095 · DOI · PMC4289855
Early identification of bovine pregnancy status and embryonic mortality† [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Bovine interferon-tau (bIFNT) is produced by the trophectoderm cells in the bovine conceptus as early as Day 12 following fertilization.
- Closing excerpt
- In addition, the detection of IFNT on Day 17 followed by the loss of pregnancy detected by US on Day 32 provides a novel research tool for studying pregnancy loss caused by embryonic mortality.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (248 words)
Bovine interferon-tau (bIFNT) is produced by the trophectoderm cells in the bovine conceptus as early as Day 12 following fertilization. It was hypothesized that IFNT detection in blood, milk, and/or cervical secretions could be used to diagnose pregnancy in lactating cows. Recombinant bovine (rb) IFNT was generated to produce goat and rabbit anti-rbIFNT polyclonal antibodies, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for bIFNT using these reagents. The IFNT ELISA did not cross-react with other type I or II IFNs and had a limit of detection of 50-100 pg/ml. The IFNT ELISA detected IFNT in external ostium (os) cervical swabs from Days 15 to 25 post-AI, but did not detect IFNT in serum, plasma, or milk. The time for most accurately detecting IFNT in cervical fluid was Days 16-19 after AI. A custom bovine swab device used to collect cervical secretions reduced false-negative rates to 5.5% (94.5% sensitivity) in dairy cows on Day 17 and 0% to 3.4% (100% and 96.6% sensitivity) in beef cows on Days 18 or 16, respectively. In summary, the detection of IFNT in cervical fluid by ELISA provides an accurate indication of pregnancy status in lactating dairy cows. Early identification of the non-pregnant cow allows re-insemination on Day 21 compared to waiting until ultrasound (US) on Day ~32-39. In addition, the detection of IFNT on Day 17 followed by the loss of pregnancy detected by US on Day 32 provides a novel research tool for studying pregnancy loss caused by embryonic mortality.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 40155196 · DOI · PMC12078079
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Embryonic and early foetal losses in cattle and other ruminants [5]
- Research article The role of inflammation for a successful implantation [6]
- Research article Endometrial injury to overcome recurrent embryo implantation failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis [7]
- Research article Endometrial inflammation and effect on implantation improvement and pregnancy outcome [8]
- Research article Immunological modes of pregnancy loss: inflammation, immune effectors, and stress [9]
- Research article Roles of the endoplasmic reticulum-resident, collagen-specific molecular chaperone Hsp47 in vertebrate cells and human disease [10]
References
- Aisemberg J, Vercelli CA, Bariani MV, Billi SC, Wolfson ML, Franchi AM. Progesterone is essential for protecting against LPS-induced pregnancy loss. LIF as a potential mediator of the anti-inflammatory effect of progesterone. . 2013. PMID 23409146 · DOI · PMC3567061
- Seferovic M, Sánchez-San Martín C, Tardif SD, Rutherford J, Castro ECC, Li T, et al.. Experimental Zika Virus Infection in the Pregnant Common Marmoset Induces Spontaneous Fetal Loss and Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities. . 2018. PMID 29717225 · DOI · PMC5931554
- Geraghty AC, Muroy SE, Zhao S, Bentley GE, Kriegsfeld LJ, Kaufer D. Knockdown of hypothalamic RFRP3 prevents chronic stress-induced infertility and embryo resorption. . 2015. PMID 25581095 · DOI · PMC4289855
- Bishop JV, Guzeloglu A, Scheller T, Docheff JJ, Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Van Campen H, et al.. Early identification of bovine pregnancy status and embryonic mortality†. . 2025. PMID 40155196 · DOI · PMC12078079
- Diskin MG, Morris DG. Embryonic and early foetal losses in cattle and other ruminants. Reprod Domest Anim. 2008. PMID 18638133 · DOI
- Dekel N, Gnainsky Y, Granot I, Racicot K, Mor G. The role of inflammation for a successful implantation. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2014. PMID 24809430 · DOI · PMC6800188
- Potdar N, Gelbaya T, Nardo LG. Endometrial injury to overcome recurrent embryo implantation failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reprod Biomed Online. 2012. PMID 23063812 · DOI
- Granot I, Gnainsky Y, Dekel N. Endometrial inflammation and effect on implantation improvement and pregnancy outcome. Reproduction. 2012. PMID 23028125 · DOI
- Kwak-Kim J, Bao S, Lee SK, Kim JW, Gilman-Sachs A. Immunological modes of pregnancy loss: inflammation, immune effectors, and stress. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2014. PMID 24661472 · DOI
- Ito S, Nagata K. Roles of the endoplasmic reticulum-resident, collagen-specific molecular chaperone Hsp47 in vertebrate cells and human disease. J Biol Chem. 2019. PMID 30541925 · DOI · PMC6369284
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-11-04; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-11-04.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.