Figure 3.

Hypoxia increases endothelin 1 (ET-1) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) secretion. ET-1 secretion from fibroid explants incubated in hypoxic conditions is significantly higher compared to the myometrium and normoxic controlled fibroid explants (A). Hypoxia significantly increases sFlt-1 secretion compared to normoxic controls. sFlt-1 secretion from hypoxia-exposed fibroid explants is significantly higher compared to hypoxia-exposed myometrium (B). ET-1 transcript was quantitated by real-time polymerase chain reaction in uterine fibroid and myometrial explants from normoxic and hypoxic cultures. Preproendothelin expression in the fibroid is significantly increased compared to the myometrium (C). Hypoxia increased preproendothelin (PPET) expression in the myometrium and in the fibroid. N = 7 patients per group. * denotes P < .05; ** P < .005; *** P < .0005 between 2 groups being compared as indicated by the solid black line.