Figure 2
From: Maternal High Estradiol Exposure is Associated with Elevated Thyroxine and Pax8 in Mouse Offspring
Histologic architecture and gene expression in thyroids of mice offspring.
(a) Histologic architecture of thyroids. The histologic architecture of thyroid glands were photographed under light microscopy at E18, 3- and 8-week-old after exposure to different concentrations of E2 during early pregnancy. At E18, the follicular cavities were very small, and most of them had not taken shape. At 3-week-old, follicular cavities had taken shape initially and became larger; thyroid cells surrounded colloid-containing follicular cavities. At 8-week-old, follicular cavities had taken shape totally and became the largest; around the cavities, adjacent follicular cells were connected with each other by prominent terminal bars and desmosomes. No obviously difference was found among NC, Ev10 and Ev100 groups. Hematoxylin and eosin, 400×, Black scale bar, 50 μm. (b,c) Gene expression assessed by real-time quantitative PCR in thyroids of 3-week-old female (b) and male (c) pups (n = 6, respectively). (d,e) Gene expression assessed by real-time quantitative PCR in thyroids of 8-week-old female (d) and male (e) offspring (n = 6, respectively). In all panels, results are expressed as means ± SE. *P < 0.05 or **P < 0.01 vs. NC. Significance was determined by Student’s t test/ANOVA.
