Figure 4.

Dexamethasone and its metabolite 6-hydroxydexamethasone are present in livers of dexamethasone-treated fetuses at E15.5. Dexamethasone (Dex, stippled bars: 100 µg/kg/day) or vehicle (Veh, white bars) was administered to pregnant dams from E12.5 to E15.5, with no further treatment to E17.5. Dexamethasone (A) and 6-hydroxydexamethasone (B) were measured in fetal livers pooled from each litter (approximately 100 mg tissue), by mass spectrometry. The detectable range for dexamethasone was 0.01–5 ng and for 6-hydroxydexamethasone 0.5–25 ng. Values are expressed as ng steroid/g fetal liver. Each data point represents a single pool of fetal livers from one litter. Data are means ± s.e.m. and were analysed by unpaired Student’s t-test (**P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001), n = 4–6.