Table 2.
Relaxation responses to acetylcholine in mesenteric and uterine arteries from cycling and late pregnant rats fed with pelleted chow (chow group) or a free-choice high-fat, high-sucrose diet (choice group) for 3 wk (cycling rats) or for 3 wk before conception and throughout pregnancy (pregnant rats)
| Chow |
Choice |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACh | ACh + l-NAME | ACh | ACh + l-NAME | |
| Cycling rats | ||||
| Mesenteric | ||||
| pEC50 | 7.80 ± 0.17 (6) | ND | 7.73 ± 0.09 (7) | ND |
| Emax | 99.8 ± 0.2* (6) | 48.6 ± 19.7 (6) | 97.1 ± 1.2† (7) | 34.8 ± 15.2 (7) |
| Uterine | ||||
| pEC50 | 6.88 ± 0.04 (7) | ND | 7.10 ± 0.05§ (7) | ND |
| Emax | 92.9 ± 3.0* (7) | 25.1 ± 8.9 (7) | 92.0 ± 2.3† (7) | 30.5 ± 11.2 |
| Pregnant rats | ||||
| Mesenteric | ||||
| pEC50 | 7.80 ± 0.17 (6) | ND | 7.73 ± 0.09 (7) | ND |
| Emax | 98.0 ± 1.3 (9) | 80.1 ± 8.2 (9) | 97.2 ± 1.3* (8) | 72.3 ± 9.0‡ (8) |
| Uterine | ||||
| pEC50 | 7.22 ± 0.15 (8) | ND | 7.41 ± 0.09 (7) | ND |
| Emax | 92.3 ± 1.9* (8) | 7.8 ± 6.7 (8) | 89.0 ± 3.8* (7) | 42.7 ± 8.6 (7) |
Data are means ± SE; number of rats per group is given in parentheses. ACh, acetylcholine; l-NAME, NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester; pEC50, concentration of agonist that gives a response halfway between top and bottom (plateaus in sigmoidal curves); Emax, maximum response to agonist. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. ND, not determined;
P ≤ 0.04 vs. chow ACh + l-NAME, choice ACh + l-NAME;
P ≤ 0.04 vs. choice ACh + l-NAME, chow ACh + l-NAME;
P ≤ 0.04 vs. chow ACh, choice ACh;
P < 0.007.