Figure 4.

OCA pretreatment alleviated the impairments of placental development and function during E2-induced cholestasis. All pregnant mice except controls were s.c. injected with E2 (0.625 mg/kg) once daily from GD13 to GD17. In the OCA+E2 groups, pregnant mice were administered with OCA (5 mg/kg) by gavage once daily from GD12 to GD17. All dams were sacrificed on GD18. (a) Average placental weight. (b) Placental efficiency (fetal weight/placental weight). (c) Placental sections were stained with H&E. Representative images were shown. Original magnification: ×400. (d) Vascular area in the labyrinthine region was estimated from two nonconsecutive sections in each placenta using the public domain NIH ImageJ Program. All data were expressed as means ± S.E.M. (n = 12 for each group). ^∗∗P < 0.01. (e) Placental Snat2 mRNA was measured using real-time RT-PCR. All data were expressed as means ± S.E.M. of six samples from six different pregnant mice. (f, g) Placental Snat2 was measured using immunoblot. (f) Representative gels were shown. (g) SNAT2/β-actin. (h, i) SNAT2 was analyzed using IHC. (h) Representative photomicrographs were shown. Original magnification: ×400. Snat2 was observed in the labyrinth zone (arrow). (i) Snat2-positive cells were analyzed. All data were expressed as means ± S.E.M. of six samples from six different pregnant mice. ^∗∗P < 0.01.