The placenta is an active immunologic organ, modulating the maternal immune response during pregnancy. Ruminants have epitheliochorial placentation with cotyledonary attachment of the chorion to the endometrium resulting in a placentome. Specialized immunologic and physiologic interactions at the maternal-fetal interface are complex and not completely understood. This review will focus on the immunologic and biochemical interactions between the fetal and maternal interface in ruminants as well as discuss possible biomarkers as non-invasive assessments of placental health.
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