Permeability studies of the guinea pig placental labyrinth. III. Tracer studies of the materno-fetal barrier.

The permeability of the materno-fetal barrier in the chorioallantoic placenta was studied in guinea pigs with gestation at term applying a variety of electron-opaque tracers via maternal circulation. None of the tracers tested was seen permeating the syncytiotrophoblast in the materno-fetal direction up to a 20 min interval when the fine structure of the placenta was satisfactorily preserved. The lanthanum chloride, cationized ferritin and horseradish peroxidase bound to the trophoblast surface, apparently due to electrostatic forces more than to specific receptors, and no uptake of these probes was detected in the cytoplasm. Albumin-colloidal gold complex, also used as a tracer, yielded similar results. As reported in other species with more complex syncytiotrophoblastic organization, this layer investing maternal lacunae is a highly selective permeability barrier.