Background Coronary flow reserve (CFR) is used as a measure of coronary endothelial function. We investigated the effect of increased afterload on CFR of pregnant and non-pregnant rats. Methods Afterload increase in Wister rats (both pregnant and non-pregnant) was achieved by the infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II) for ~10 days or by subjecting them to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) ...