BACKGROUND:

Reproductive immunology is not a new area in reproductive medicine, it has always been related to recurrent miscarriage and repeated implantation failure, especially in the context of IVF. Recently, new concepts have emerged that are important for OBGYN specialists to keep in mind.

OBJECTIVE:

Interrelating the basic concepts of immunology, embryology and assisted reproduction to better understand what the former can and cannot solve.

METHODOLOGY:

Retrospective study based on the electronic search, carried out in February 2020, in the databases: PubMed and Google Scholar with the following terms (MeSH) The following MeSH terms were used: Abortion, Spontaneous/immunology; Embryo Implantation/immunology; HLA-C Antigens/immunology; Immune Tolerance/immunology; Immunity, Maternally-Acquired/immunology; Uterus/immunology; Killer Cells, Natural/immunology; Placentation/immunology; Receptors, KIR/immunology; Antigen Presentation/genetics; Antigen Presentation/immunology; Maternal-Fetal Exchange/genetics; Maternal-Fetal Exchange/immunology.

RESULTS:

289 articles were collected, and 248 articles were deleted because they did not meet the inclusion criteria; only 41 were analyzed. The articles identified served as a basis for updating the status of immunology in the context of reproductive medicine. During the process, other articles were reviewed to serve as bibliographic support for the concepts described in this review.

CONCLUSIONS:

Due to the outstanding interest in the study of embryo genetics, reproductive medicine focused more on it and left immunology aside. However, since genetics still cannot adequately explain implantation failures, reproductive immunology is gaining momentum again.