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Figure 1. Angiogenic effect of urinary hCG (uhCG) and recombinant hCG (rhCG) in aortic ring assay. Rat aortic rings were cultured in a collagen gel for 10 d with various hCG concentrations. A) Photomicrographs (original magnification 25x) of aortic rings after 10 d of incubation with uhCG (Pregnyl®, 100 IU/ml), with rhCG (100 IU/ml), or with vehicle (control). B) Quantification of microvessel outgrowth by computerized image analysis. Nv, vessel number; Nb, branching number; Lmax, maximal length (mm). n = 4, error bars = SE., *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. C) Histogram of vessel number (Nv) outgrowth from rat aortic rings incubated during 10 d with uhCG (100 IU/ml) supplemented with various concentrations (1.2 and 2.4 µg/ml) of antihCG Ab. n = 4, error bars = SE., **P < 0.01. Experiments were repeated at least three times. Student’s t test was used to evaluate whether differences among groups were significant. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.
