Fig. 8.

In vivo evidence of BH4 treatment benefit on IUGR in the RUPP rat model. (A) Structure of the uterine vascularization of the rat uterus. In red are the silver clips that restrict blood flow to 100 μM in the ovarian arteries and to 230 μM in the abdominal aorta. (B, C, D) Mean arterial pressure (MAP), fetal and placental weights analyzed in the RUPP rats. Placental efficiency (D) is calculated by dividing the body weight by the placental weight for every feto-placental unit. (E) Isolated uterine artery function was evaluated using cumulative doses of Acetylcholine (Ach) via wire myography. The area under the curve (AUC from the curve obtained as relaxation against doses of Ach) was considered. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)