Figure 5.

Sphingosine kinase inhibitor, sphingosine kinase inhibitor II (SKI II), suppresses recruitment of inflammatory cells to the placental labyrinth in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated embryonic day 15.5 mice. A: Sections of placenta from sham, LPS-induced, and LPS-treated mice rescued from preterm birth with SKI II were fixed in formalin and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Arrows indicate neutrophils. B: Magnitude of inflammatory response was graded on a four-point scale by three blinded observers (V.V., S.S., and S.M.). At least three placentas from three different dams were subjected to histological analysis for each condition and each cytokine. Representative sections are shown. ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01. Original magnification, ×400 (A).