Table 2.

Key findings in rodent studies of fetal microchimerism

Model	Tissues studied	Disease process involved	Findings
CBA/HT6T6 mice10	Lymph nodes, marrow, spleen	GVHD induced in healthy mice	Microchimerism detected during pregnancy Microchimerism increased in subsequent pregnancy
BALB/cJ retired breeder mice28	Peripheral blood, skin	Vinyl chloride injection to mimic systemic sclerosis	Microchimerism increased 48-fold after injections to induce dermal fibrosis
Transgenic GFP mice (Tg immunized)30	Thyroid, marrow, peripheral blood	Autoimmune thyroiditis	Microchimeric fetal cells identified in maternal thyroid during and after pregnancy Frequency highest in thyroid compared to blood or marrow
Transgenic GFP mice21	Liver, spleen, kidney, heart, brain, marrow	Healthy	Microchimerism detected in all tissues during pregnancy Frequency highest in fetal lungs Microchimerism undetectable three weeks after first delivery
Transgenic GFP rats29	Peripheral blood, liver, kidney	Ethanol liver damage Gentamicin kidney damage	Microchimerism detected in multiple organs Microchimeric cells were hepatocytes and renal tubular cells
Transgenic GFP mice38	Liver, spleen	CCl4 injection	Microchimeric fetal cells detectable in liver and spleen after chemical injury only
		Partial hepatectomy	Fetal cell number increased over time after injury
Transgenic GFP mice39	Brain	Excito-toxic brain injury	Microchimeric fetal cells detected in maternal brain Number of fetal cells increased after brain injury Fetal cells clustered at sites of injury
Transgenic GFP mice (VEGF-2 promoter)40	Skin	Hypersensitivity skin reactions	Microchimeric fetal cells located in inflamed skin in greater number than non-inflamed skin Fetal cells homed to inflamed skin and formed new endothelium