Maternal recognition of pregnancy and implantation are not associated with an interferon response of the endometrium to the presence of the conceptus in dromedary camel.

Maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) and implantation involve appropriate interactions between the elongating conceptus and the receptive endometrium that will condition development of the feto-placental unit to term. Molecular mechanisms that take place at the conceptus-endometrium interface during early pregnancy have been extensively investigated in domestic ungulates but they are still poorly understood in camelids including the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), a domestic species with important economic and social roles in arid and semi-arid areas. In order to better understand how MRP and implantation take place in the left horn of this species, we investigated expression levels of genes encoding steroid hormones (PGR, ESR1), transcription factors (STAT1, FOXL2), interferon stimulated genes (MX1, MX2, OAS1, RSAD2) including SOCS genes (SOCS1, SOCS2, SOCS3 and CISH), previously identified as conceptus regulated genes in the endometrium of other domestic animals.