Table 2. Stereological measures of placentas from 11ß-HSD2^+/+, ^+/- and ^-/- fetuses at E15 and E18.

	E15			E18
	+/+	+/-	-/-	+/+	+/-	-/-
Placental fractions (% of total placental volume)
Decidua basalis	25.4±3.11	31.3±2.14	19.6±2.67	18.5±1.50	17.7±1.61	21.9±1.66
Spongiotrophoblast	38.5±2.6	32.6±3.08	40.85±3.04	18.4±3.07✤	18.7±3.56	28.7±2.95
Labyrinth zone	33.9±3.16	33.7±2.37	37.2±1.29	59.5±2.75✤	59.6±3.05	45.6±2.44*
Chorion	2.16±0.03	2.37±0.02	2.3±0.03	3.6±0.03✤	3.9±0.03	3.7±0.04
Absolute MBS volume (10-3 cm3)	3.8±0.3	3.3±0.1	2.8±0.6	9.1±1✤	9.4±1	6.4±2
Absolute FC volume (10-3 cm3)	4.3±0.1	4.1±0.3	3.4±0.2	14.8±2✤	14.5±1	6.3±1*
MBS surface area density (cm2/cm3)	270.56±30.21	276.70±40.26	194.42±35.94	431.09±46.34✤	398.13±20.09	498.65±66.49
FC surface area density (cm2/cm3)	370.29±27.33	373.02±28.55	285.96±38.2	473.39±24.93✤	450.26±16.77	314.11±45.87*
FC length (m)	25.34±5.12	24.98±3.45	25.21±4.61	152.9±9.33✤	153.2±11.0	134.6±8.48*
FC diameter (μm)	14.3±1.4	14.0±0.6	14.2±0.8	10.7±0. ✤	10.6±0.3	9.0±0.4*

Values are the mean ± SEM (n = 6-8 per group).

^✤denotes an overall effect of gestational age (two-way ANOVA, P>0.05)

^*denotes differences from 11ß-HSD2^+/+ within the time point (one-way ANOVA, P<0.05). MBS, maternal blood space; FC, fetal capillaries.