Figure 3.

Effect of insults on term placental explant cytokine release and intracellular concentrations. Explants were exposed to (a and b) oxidative stress (1 mM H₂O₂), (c and d) hypoxia (1%O₂), (e and f) low dose LPS (1 ng/ml to mimic subclinical infection), (g and h) nitrative stress (1 mM SIN-1) or media alone for 72 h. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-β, IL-1Ra, tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), IL-6, IL-8, CCL2, IL-10 were measured in culture medium and placental lysates by ELISA and corrected for explant protein content. Data are fold change from control conditions (n = 5–12, line represents median); dashed line represents control values. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 Wilcoxon signed rank test.