Figure 4.

Evaluation of OCT3 expression, MAO-A activity, and lipid peroxidation as potential mechanisms accounting for sex-dependent inhibition of 5-HT extraction by rat placenta. OCT3 gene expression ((a), assessed by ddPCR; presented as Tukey plots with whiskers extending to 1.5 times IQR, outliers are shown as individual points; n ≥ 18) and protein expression ((b), assessed by western blot analysis; presented as Tukey plots with whiskers extending to 1.5 times IQR; n = 5) were independent of fetal sex (evaluated by unpaired t test). Protein expression was normalized to β-actin as a loading control; representative immunoblots for target proteins and β-actin are also shown. No differences in MAO-A activity ((c), presented as means ± SD; n = 5) or lipid peroxidation ((d), presented as means ± SD; n = 5) between male and female placentas were detected.