Pregnancy block by male pheromones in mice differs in incidence depending o
n the combination of strains. Female mice of BALB/cA strain mated with BALB
/cA males show a 100% pregnancy block when exposed to males of inbred strai
n DDK shortly after copulation (Chung et al., Biol Reprod 1997; 57:312-319)
. In the present study, BALB/cA females mated with the males of other strai
ns-CBA/J, C3H/HeN, C57BL/6Cr, and IXBL-showed higher pregnancy rates (66.6-
87.5%) even when they were exposed to DDK males. In the pharmacological ind
uction of pregnancy block with dopamine agonist (bromocriptine, 4 mg/kg BW)
, BALB/cA females mated with BALB/cA males showed a 100% pregnancy block. I
n contrast, BALB/cA females mated with CPA/J, C3H/HeN, and C57BL/6Cr males
showed higher pregnancy rates (40-70%). These results suggest that the bett
er pregnancy rate of BALB/cA females mated with alien males may be due to t
he stronger viability of F-1 embryos. This interpretation was confirmed by
an embryo transfer experiment in which a higher implantation rate was obser
ved when BALB/cA embryos grown in BALB/cA females exposed to BALB/cA males
were transferred into recipient BALB/cA females exposed to DDK males. These
results suggest that the embryonic genotype or viability of the embryo is
one factor contributing to the occurrence of pregnancy block by male pherom
ones in mice.