Figure 5

Carbon monoxide application augments the levels of pro-angiogenic molecules in the placenta. Inhalation of 50 ppmCO led to a significant augmentation in the expression of the pro-angiogenic molecule VEGF in placenta samples at protein level (a) as well as at mRNA level (b). This was also true for VEGF protein levels as confirmed by immunohistochemistry, which clearly shows an intense staining in trophoblast cells from animals treated with CO (d) which was not the case for air treated control animals (c). Quantification of the numbers of cells in each group revealed a significant up-regulation of VEGF positive cells in placentas from CO-treated mice (e). CO further induced an up-regulation in the levels of reported pro-angiogenic molecules HIF-1 (f), SDF-1 (g) and PGF (h) at mRNA level as compared to air-treated control animals. Data are presented as median. Statistical significances were evaluated by the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test between two groups. *: p < 0.05 and **: p < 0.01 and ***: p < 0.001. Bars represent 50 μm.