Effects of DVDO and estrogen on urethral elastin mRNA expression. Female rats were sham-operated (Delivery-only; n=6 at each time point), DVDO-treated (n=6 at each time point), or DVDO+E2-treated (n=6 at the 8-week time point); 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks later, their urethras were examined by RT-PCR for elastin mRNA expression. The PCR products were visualized by gel electrophoresis followed by densitometric and statistical analyses. “Relative expression” is the ratio of elastin versus β-actin expression. * indicates significant difference (p<0.05) compared to 8-week DVDO. For ease of presentation, the 12-week data, which was similar to the 8-week data, is not shown.