2.3 Saline and Arg treatment
Ewes in the Sal-treatment group received 5 to 10 mL of sterile saline solution, whereas ewes in the Arg-treatment group received 5 to 10 mL of L-Arg-HCI solution iin a dose of 155 Umol Arg per kg BW (Sigma).
Dose of Arg was chosen based on studies performed by Lassala et al. [26,27].
Saline or Arg treatments were initiated on Day 0 of the estrous cycle after blood samples were collected and occurred three times (7 AM, 2 PM, and 9 PM) until the end of the experiment.
After treatment injection, 1 mL of heparin solution was placed into the cannula to prevent clotting.