Fig. 3.

Maternal choline deficiency decreases endothelial cell proliferation in E17 fetal hippocampus: Pregnant mice were fed CD, CT, or CS diet between days 12 to 17 of gestation and fetal brains were collected at E17. At E15, all dams received an intraperitoneal (i.p.) dose of BrdU. Brain sections were probed with isolectin IB4 and anti-BrdU antibodies. The proliferation index of EC was calculated as the ratio of colabeled BrdU-isolectin positive cells to DAPI-isolectin positive cells in both hippocampi (or both dentate gyri) of each brain in six consecutive 5 μm sections. The surface area of whole hippocampus (H) and dentate gyrus (DG) were measured for each sample and found to be constant between the treatments (small inset). Data are presented as mean ± SE. n = 6 pups from 6 dams/group. Groups were compared using one way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer test. ** = p < 0.01