TUDCA and vehicle treatment.

Animals were randomly divided into TUDCA- or vehicle-treated groups. TUDCA (EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA) was dissolved in phosphate-buffered saline (Wisent Bio Products, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, QC, Canada) at 200 mg/ml and pH 7.5 as in previous studies using this dose (19, 48, 49). TUDCA (400 mg/kg) or an equal volume of sterile phosphate-buffered saline (vehicle) was administered daily via intraperitoneal injection beginning 3 days prior to surgery. Injections continued throughout the recovery and stimulation period and ended 1 day prior to tissue extraction to avoid the acute effects of drug treatment.