Effect of ethanol and acetaldehyde on the proliferation and apoptotic index of first trimester tissue.

<p>The proliferation and apoptotic index as measured by the fraction of Ki67-positive cells or M30-positive cells and normalised to control. (a) Immunostaining of Ki67 positive cytotrophoblasts in untreated first trimester tissue, (b) after treatment with 40 mM ethanol and (c) negative control with non-immune IgG. (d) Proliferation index of ethanol-exposed first trimester explants. At 20 mM and 40 mM, ethanol reduced cytotrophoblast proliferation (p<0.05; N = 9). (e) Proliferation index of acetaldehyde-exposed first trimester explants decreased proliferation at 40 µM only (p<0.05; N = 6). (f) Apoptotic index of explants after treatment with ethanol did not affect apoptosis (p>0.05; N = 7–9). (g) Treatment with increasing concentrations of acetaldehyde also did not affect apoptosis (p>0.05; N = 6). Statistical analysis with Wilcoxon signed-rank. <b>*</b>p<0.05. Scale bar = 50 micron.