Maternal IL-6 plasma levels and spleen weight in mice exposed to chronic LPS treatments.

<p>Chronic LPS (5 µg/Kg) treatment was performed daily from E11.5 until E15.5. (A) Maternal plasma was extracted 4 h after last LPS treatment on E15.5 (Vehicle n = 9; LPS n = 10). (B) Maternal splenic weight from animals exposed to chronic LPS treatment (Vehicle n = 9; LPS n = 10). Values are means±SEM. *P<0.05, **<i>p<</i>0.001 (one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey’s post-hoc test).</p

Rate of fetal death/reabsorption after acute LPS exposure.

<p>Rate of fetal death/reabsorption after acute LPS exposure.</p

Placental mRNA expression of the multidrug resistance genes (Abcb1a, Abcb1b, and Abcg2), Il-6, Tnf-α, Il-10 and Tlr-4 after chronic LPS exposure.

<p>The small, mid-range and larger placentas from each litter were grouped and assayed for mRNA expression. (Veh, n = 7 dams; LPS n = 7). (Repeated measures two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferonni’s test, <i>p</i><0.05). Relative gene expression normalized to <i>Tbp, Gapdh</i> and <i>Hprt</i>.</p

Placental size and P-gp transport efficiency.

<p>Small, mid-range and larger placentas from each litter were grouped and averaged for placental (A) and fetal (B) weight and fetal to placental (F:P) weight ratio (C). (D) shows the relationship between individual placental weights and [³H]digoxin fetal accumulation at E15.5, for vehicle (r = −0.6657, n = 31 fetuses from 5 litters, <i>p</i><0.0001) and chronic LPS (r = −0.5099, n = 39 fetuses from 6 litters, <i>p</i><0.001) groups. (E) [³H]digoxin fetal accumulation from small, mid-range and larger placentas at E15.5 (vehicle n = 5; LPS n = 6). (A,B,C and E, repeated measures two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferonni’s test, <i>p</i><0.05; Pearson’s correlation test).</p

Placental and maternal myocardial P-gp activity after acute sub-lethal LPS exposure:

<p>Fetal Units [³H]digoxin accumulation (4 fetal units/dam were randomly harvested and assayed) on E15.5 (A) (n = 5 dams/gp) and E17.5 (B) (4 h n = 5 dams/gp; 24 h n = 4 dams/gp); 4 or 24 h after acute LPS treatment. Maternal myocardial [³H]digoxin accumulation on E15.5 (C) and E17.5 (D) 4 or 24 h after acute LPS treatment. Values are means±SEM. *<i>p<</i>0.05 (one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey’s post-hoc test on E15.5 and Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance followed by Dunn’s test on E17.5).</p

Placental and maternal myocardial P-gp activity after chronic sub-lethal LPS exposure.

<p>(A) fetal units [³H]digoxin accumulation (all fetuses/dam) and (B) maternal myocardial [³H]digoxin accumulation, 4 h after last LPS chronic treatment (daily from E11.5 until E15.5) on E15.5 (vehicle n = 5; chronic LPS n = 6). Values are means±SEM. *P = 0.05 (one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey’s post-hoc test).</p

Rate of of fetal death/reabsorption after multiple LPS exposure.

*<p>Dams received daily Veh/LPS treatments from E11.5 until E15.5 and were euthanized 4 hs after last treatment on E15.5.</p

Placental mRNA expression of the multidrug resistance genes (Abcb1a, Abcb1b, and Abcg2) and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Il-6 after acute sub-lethal LPS exposure: one placenta per group was randomly harvested 4 h after LPS insult and processed for qPCR analyses (n = 6 dams/gp).

<p>Values are fold increase of the means±SEM. *<i>p<</i>0.05 (one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey’s post-hoc test). Relative gene expression normalized to Tbp Gapdh.</p

Maternal IL-6 plasma levels in mice exposed to acute LPS treatment.

<p>Vehicle and acute LPS (150 µg/Kg) treatments were performed and maternal plasma was extracted: 4 h (n = 6/gp) or 24 h (n = 5/gp) after single LPS exposure. Values are means±SEM. ***<i>p<</i>0.0001 (one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey’s post-hoc test).</p