Nitric oxide, ischaemia and brain inflammation

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1133-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Murphy ◽  
C.L. Gibson

Cerebral ischaemia results in the activation of three isoforms of NOS (nitric oxide synthase) that contribute to the development of and recovery from stroke pathology. This review discusses, in particular, the role of the transcriptionally activated NOS-2 (inducible NOS) isoform and summarizes the outcomes of experimental stroke studies with regard to the therapeutic utility of nitric oxide donors and NOS inhibitors.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 774-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiong Wang ◽  
Dale A. Pelligrino ◽  
Verna L. Baughman ◽  
Heidi M. Koenig ◽  
Ronald F. Albrecht

The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors, nitro-L-arginine, its methyl ester, and N-monomethyl-L-arginine, have been shown to attenuate resting CBF and hypercapnia-induced cerebrovasodilation. Those agents nonspecifically inhibit the endothelial and neuronal NOS (eNOS and nNOS). In the present study, we used a novel nNOS inhibitor, 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) to examine the role of nNOS in CBF during normocapnia and hypercapnia in fentanyl/N2O-anesthetized rats. CBF was monitored using laser-Doppler flowmetry. Administration of 7-NI (80 mg kg−1 i.p.) reduced cortical brain NOS activity by 57%, the resting CBF by 19–27%, and the CBF response to hypercapnia by 60%. The 60% reduction was similar in magnitude to the CBF reductions observed in previous studies in which nonspecific NOS inhibitors were used. In the present study, 7-NI did not increase the MABP. Furthermore, the CBF response to oxotremorine, a blood–brain barrier permeant muscarinic agonist that induces cerebrovasodilation via endothelium-derived NO, was unaffected by 7-NI. These results confirmed that 7-NI does not influence eNOS; they also indicated that the effects of 7-NI on the resting CBF and on the CBF response to hypercapnia in this study were solely related to its inhibitory action on nNOS. The results further suggest that the NO synthesized by the action of nNOS participates in regulation of basal CBF and is the major, if not the only, category of NO contributing to the hypercapnic CBF response.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vitor Silva Pereira ◽  
Angélica C.D. Romano Suavinha ◽  
Gregers Wegener ◽  
Sâmia R.L. Joca

AbstractObjectivesNMDA antagonists and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors induce antidepressant-like effects and may represent treatment options for depression. The behavioural effects of NMDA antagonists seem to depend on Tyrosine kinase B receptor (TrkB) activation by BDNF and on mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, it is unknown whether similar mechanisms are involved in the behavioural effects of NOS inhibitors. Therefore, this work aimed at determining the role of TrkB and mTOR signalling in the prelimbic area of the ventral mPFC (vmPFC-PL) in the antidepressant-like effect of NOS inhibitors.MethodsPharmacological treatment with LY235959 or ketamine (NMDA antagonists), NPA or 7-NI (NOS inhibitors), BDNF, K252a (Trk antagonist) and rapamycin (mTOR inhibitor) injected systemically or into vmPFC-PL followed by behavioural assessment.ResultsWe found that bilateral injection of BDNF into the vmPFC-PL induced an antidepressant-like effect, which was blocked by pretreatment with K252a and rapamycin. Microinjection of LY 235959 into the vmPFC-PL induced antidepressant-like effect that was suppressed by local rapamycin but not by K252a pretreatment. Microinjection of NPA induced an antidepressant-like effect insensitive to both K252a and rapamycin. Similarly, the antidepressant-like effects of a systemic injection of ketamine or 7-NI were not affected by blockade of mTOR or Trk receptors in the vmPFC-PL.ConclusionOur data support the hypothesis that NMDA blockade induces an antidepressant-like effect that requires mTOR but not Trk signalling into the vmPFC-PL. The antidepressant-like effect induced by local NOS inhibition is independent on both Trk and mTOR signalling in the vmPFC-PL.


1997 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baimeng Zhang ◽  
Kenneth R. Knight ◽  
Bruce Dowsing ◽  
Elizabeth Guida ◽  
Long H. Phan ◽  
...  

1. The effects of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors, NG-nitro-l-arginine-methyl ester (l-NAME), nitroiminoethyl-l-ornithine and S-methylisothiourea on skeletal muscle survival following 2 h of tourniquet ischaemia and 24 h of reperfusion were compared with those of the antiinflammatory steroid, dexamethasone. 2. Administration of each of the NOS inhibitors or dexamethasone 30 min before reperfusion reduced the degree of skeletal muscle necrosis 24 h after reperfusion. 3. The influence of timing of drug administration was investigated. l-NAME administered 30 min before reperfusion, at 3 h after reperfusion, but not thereafter, significantly improved muscle survival compared with saline-treated controls. Dexamethasone administered 30 min before, or at 3 or 8 h after reperfusion, but not at 16 h, significantly improved muscle survival, but neither agent had protective effects when administered before ischaemia. 4. After 8 h of reperfusion of ischaemic skeletal muscle, cell-free homogenates contained Ca2+-independent (inducible) NOS activity which was reduced in dexamethasone-treated (2.5 mg/kg) rats. Furthermore, inducible NOS mRNA levels, as detected by reverse transcriptase-PCR, were increased after 8 h of reperfusion in saline, but not in dexamethasone-treated rats. 5. These data suggest a significant deleterious effect of endogenous NO which may be restricted to the first 3 h of the reperfusion phase of ischaemia-reperfusion injury, and raise the possibility of effective treatment of incipient reperfusion injury, even after several hours of reperfusion.


Physiology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Pohl ◽  
Cor de Wit

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors induce significant vasoconstriction, suggesting an indispensable role of NO as a local vasodilator. This is due mainly to its effects on large arterioles that significantly control arterial conductance while scarcely being regulated by metabolites. NO’s role in adapting vascular conductance to flow is pronounced during (re)active hyperemia and autoregulation.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 5044-5044
Author(s):  
Marc C. Levesque ◽  
Dipak K. Ghosh ◽  
Bethany E. Beasley ◽  
Youwei Chen ◽  
Alicia D. Volkheimer ◽  
...  

Abstract The viability of CLL cells may be dependent on the autocrine production of nitric oxide because nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors induce CLL cell apoptosis and CLL cells express inducible NOS (NOS2). Our previous study indicated that the non-specific NOS inhibitor NMMA induced CLL cell apoptosis but only at high concentrations (> 1 mM) (Levesque et al., Leukemia17:442, 2003). Therefore, we performed the current study to identify NOS inhibitors that induce CLL cell apoptosis at lower concentrations and to understand factors that promote NOS inhibitor-induced CLL cell toxicity. We isolated and enriched CLL cells from the blood of CLL patients and cultured the CLL cells in media containing various concentrations of 21 different NOS inhibitors. We determined CLL cell viability following culture with each NOS inhibitor. We found that NOS inhibitors with specificity for neuronal NOS (NOS1) induced CLL cell death at concentrations lower than non-specific NOS inhibitors and lower than inducible NOS (NOS2) specific inhibitors. There was a weak correlation (r2 = 0.29, p = 0.1608) of the NOS1 (but not NOS2) half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of each NOS inhibitor for purified recombinant NOS and its ability to induce CLL cell death. We confirmed the specificity of the NOS inhibitors by inhibition of purified recombinant NOS1 and NOS2 enzyme activity, and we confirmed that NOS1 specific inhibitors induced CLL cell death by apoptosis. Because there was only a weak correlation of the NOS1 IC50 with NOS inhibitor induced CLL cell death, we considered whether other factors such as the Kd and hydrophobicity of each compound correlated with CLL cell death. We found that there was a direct correlation between the NOS1 (but not NOS2) dissociation constant (Kd) of NOS inhibitors and CLL cell death (r2 = 0.77, p = 0.0041) and a direct correlation of the partitioning coefficient (a measure of hydrophobicity) of each NOS inhibitor and its ability to induce CLL cell death (r2 = 0.68, p < 0.0001). Therefore, NOS inhibitors that bound tightly to NOS1 and were hydrophobic induced CLL cell death at lower concentrations. There was variable expression of CLL cell NOS1 mRNA (6 of 28 samples positive) and we were unable to demonstrate CLL cell expression of NOS1 protein by immunoblotting. This suggests that if NOS1 is present in CLL cells, it exists at very low levels. Taken together, we believe that low level NO production promotes CLL cell viability and that inhibition of CLL NOS induces CLL cell apoptosis. Importantly, our studies provide direction for the rational design and selection of NOS inhibitors that may be useful as CLL therapeutics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Magdalena Król ◽  
Marta Kepinska

In various diseases, there is an increased production of the free radicals needed to carry out certain physiological processes but their excessive amounts can cause oxidative stress and cell damage. Enzymes play a major role in the transformations associated with free radicals. One of them is nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which catalyzes the formation of nitric oxide (NO). This enzyme exists in three forms (NOS1, NOS2, NOS3), each encoded by a different gene. The following work presents the most important information on the NOS isoforms and their role in the human body, including NO synthesis in various tissues and cells, intercellular signaling and activities supporting the immune system and regulating blood vessel functions. The role of NOS in pathological conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease is considered. Attention is also paid to the influence of the polymorphisms of these genes, encoding particular isoforms, on the development of these pathologies and the role of NOS inhibitors in the treatment of patients.


2002 ◽  
Vol 283 (1) ◽  
pp. C296-C304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnar Henningsson ◽  
Albert Salehi ◽  
Ingmar Lundquist

The role of islet constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) in insulin-releasing mechanisms is controversial. By measuring enzyme activities and protein expression of NOS isoforms [i.e., cNOS and inducible NOS (iNOS)] in islets of Langerhans cells in relation to insulin secretion, we show that glucose dose-dependently stimulates islet activities of both cNOS and iNOS, that cNOS-derived nitric oxide (NO) strongly inhibits glucose-stimulated insulin release, and that short-term hyperglycemia in mice induces islet iNOS activity. Moreover, addition of NO gas or an NO donor inhibited glucose-stimulated insulin release, and different NOS inhibitors effected a potentiation. These effects were evident also in K+-depolarized islets in the presence of the ATP-sensitive K+ channel opener diazoxide. Furthermore, our results emphasize the necessity of measuring islet NOS activity when using NOS inhibitors, because certain concentrations of certain NOS inhibitors might unexpectedly stimulate islet NO production. This is shown by the observation that 0.5 mmol/l of the NOS inhibitor N G-monomethyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA) stimulated cNOS activity in parallel with an inhibition of the first phase of glucose-stimulated insulin release in perifused rats islets, whereas 5.0 mmol/l of l-NMMA markedly suppressed cNOS activity concomitant with a great potentiation of the insulin secretory response. The data strongly suggest, but do not definitely prove, that glucose indeed has the ability to stimulate both cNOS and iNOS in the islets and that NO might serve as a negative feedback inhibitor of glucose-stimulated insulin release. The results also suggest that hyperglycemia-evoked islet NOS activity might be one of multiple factors involved in the impairment of glucose-stimulated insulin release in type II diabetes mellitus.


1994 ◽  
Vol 179 (2) ◽  
pp. 651-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
J B Weinberg ◽  
D L Granger ◽  
D S Pisetsky ◽  
M F Seldin ◽  
M A Misukonis ◽  
...  

MRL-lpr/lpr mice spontaneously develop various manifestations of autoimmunity including an inflammatory arthropathy and immune complex glomerulonephritis. This study examines the role of nitric oxide, a molecule with proinflammatory actions, in the pathogenesis of MRL-lpr/lpr autoimmune disease. MRL-lpr/lpr mice excreted more urinary nitrite/nitrate (an in vivo marker of nitric oxide production) than did mice of normal strains and MRL-(+/+) and B6-lpr/lpr congenic strains. In addition, MRL-lpr/lpr peritoneal macrophages had an enhanced capacity to produce nitric oxide in vitro as well as increased nitric oxide synthase activity, and certain tissues from MRL-lpr/lpr mice had increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS) mRNA and increased amounts of material immunoreactive for inducible NOS. Oral administration of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, prevented the development of glomerulonephritis and reduced the intensity of inflammatory arthritis in MRL-lpr/lpr mice. By using interspecific backcross mice, the gene for inducible NOS (Nosi) was mapped to mouse chromosome 11. This chromosomal localization was different from those loci that we have previously demonstrated to be linked to enhanced susceptibility to renal disease in an MRL-lpr/lpr cross. However, the chromosomal location of the NOS gene was consistent with an insulin-dependent diabetes locus identified in an analysis of nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. These results suggest that elevated nitric oxide production could be important in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity, and that treatments to block the production of nitric oxide or block its effects might be valuable therapeutically.


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