Table 4.

Correlations of the plasma PCBs, DDE and dieldrin, and ethion levels with plasma HCG, the placental oxidative stress biomarkers, and placental Bcl-2 and caspase-3 concentrations in G2 and G3.

		Plasma HCG (IU/L)	NO (µM/g wet weight placental tissues)	TBARS (µM/g wet weight placental tissues)	GSH (µM/mg protein in placental tissue extract)	SOD (U/mg protein in placental tissue extract)	Bcl-2 (ng/ protein in placental tissue extract)	Caspase-3 (ng/ protein in placental tissue extract)
PCB28 (µg/L)	r	− 0.707	0.696	0.889	− 0.775	− 0.682	− 0.636	0.743
	P	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001
PCB52 (µg/L)	r	− 0.519	0.494	0.743	− 0.631	− 0.481	− 0.420	0.534
	P	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.002	< 0.001
PCB118 (µg/L)	r	− 0.821	0.847	0.942	− 0.845	− 0.820	− 0.799	0.888
	P	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001
PCB180 (µg/L)	r	− 0.745	0.759	0.890	− 0.765	− 0.723	− 0.699	0.802
	P	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001
DDE (µg/L)	r	− 0.616	0.602	0.881	− 0.739	− 0.576	− 0.520	0.650
	P	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001
Dieldrin (µg/L)	r	− 0.635	0.628	0.837	− 0.706	− 0.598	− 0.548	0.666
	P	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001
Ethion (µg/L)	r	− 0.341	0.309	0.513	− 0.434	− 0.318	− 0.264	0.346
	P	0.013	0.026	< 0.001	0.001	0.022	0.059	0.012

PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl; DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin; NO^., nitric oxide; TBARS, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; GSH, glutathione; SOD, superoxide dismutase activity; BcI-2, lymphoma 2 protein; Caspase-3, cysteine-dependent aspartate specific protease; r, Pearson’s correlation coefficient; p, p-Value.