Fig. 4.

Expression of two steroidogenic enzymes in the ovary is modulated by stress and pregnancy progression. A: fold-change expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) was decreased in restraint-stressed (STR) animals during early pregnancy related to unrestrained females (CON) but downregulated in both groups during midpregnancy. B: fold-change expression of cholesterol side chain cleavage enzyme (SCC) was also lower in STR during early pregnancy but downregulated in both stressed and unrestrained animals during midpregnancy. Plot shows untransformed data. Day 5: CON, n = 20; STR, n = 16; day 10: CON, n = 18; STR, n = 17. Samples sizes report number of ovaries. Both ovaries were used from most individuals within a repeated measures analysis (see methods, Statistical analyses). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.02; ***P < 0.001, planned comparisons.