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. 2000 Jan;156(1):321–331. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9440(10)64733-5

Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Trophoblast nitrotyrosine (NT) expression is increased when the pregnancy is complicated by preeclampsia. A and B: Tissue section of floating villi obtained from the placenta of a control patient at 26 weeks of gestation. C and D: Tissue section of a placental bed biopsy obtained from the same control patient. E and F: Tissue section of floating villi obtained from the placenta of a patient diagnosed at 26 weeks of gestation with preeclampsia (PE). G and H: Tissue section of a placental bed biopsy obtained from the same preeclampsia patient. Panels show staining with anti-cytokeratin (CK; A, C, E, and G) and anti-NT (B, D, F, and H). In general, NT expression was not detected in either the first (data not shown) or the second trimester (B and D) of pregnancy. By the third trimester, the stromal components of the villous cores and invasive cytotrophoblasts stained weakly (data not shown). When the pregnancy was complicated by preeclampsia, particularly intense immunoreactivity was detected in association with the fetal blood vessels of floating villi (compare arrowheads in B and F) and in association with invasive cytotrophoblasts (H). Essentially the same results were obtained in analyses of 10 of 10 control samples and 4 of 4 samples obtained from patients with preeclampsia.