Increased Umbilical Cord PAI-1 Levels in Placental Insufficiency Are Associated with Fetal Hypoxia and Angiogenesis

Figure 1

Fetal umbilical cord plasma levels of PAI-1 are elevated in PI. Fetal umbilical cord plasma levels of PAI-1 and regulators of its transcription were compared between PI. (a) PAI-1 is greatly increased in the fetal circulation in placental insufficiency (Mann-Whitney test, ). Total VEGF (b) and FGF-2 (c) levels were unchanged, while oxygen levels in both the venous (d) and arterial (e) umbilical cord were decreased in placental insufficiency (-test, , ). Blood gas measurements were performed in hospital by the clinical laboratory for 16/18 PI and 11/12 control subjects as part of routine postnatal care. Multiplex immunofluorometric assays were used to measure protein changes from the same samples. Box plots indicate median, interquartile range, and whiskers total range.

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