Introduction: Nitric oxide seems to play a dual role in ischemia/reperfusion injury. Few studies have investigated whether it exacerbates or improves brain edema. In the present study, we inhibited the activity of nitric oxide synthase by L-NAME and evaluated the cerebral infarct volume, tissue swelling and brain edema, alongside the measurement of blood flow of the ischemic region. Methods...

Recent studies have suggested that nitric oxide (NO.), the product of nitric oxide synthase in inflammatory cells, may play a part in tissue injury and inflammation through its oxidative metabolism. In this study the colonic generation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and nitric oxide synthase activity was determined in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Colonic biopsy specimens were obtained f...

Introduction Approximately 6 years ago, nitric oxide was identified as the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), the endogenous vasodilator mimicked by nitroglycerin and nitroprusside [ 1-41. An astonishing variety of tissues synthesize nitric oxide, which has important roles in the control of systemic blood pressure, respiration, digestion, penile erection, platelet aggregation, cerebral...

Diabetes is associated with alterations in nitric oxide-mediated vasomotor function. The role of nitric oxide generated via the neuronal nitric oxide synthase pathway in the control of systemic and renal hemodynamics in diabetes has not been studied. To explore the hypothesis that diabetic vascular dysfunction is in part caused by altered neuronal nitric oxide synthase activity, systemic and re...

OBJECTIVE Nitric oxide is produced by endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and its production can be influenced by polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene. Because candidate genes responsible for susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis are mostly unknown and available data suggest that there may be problems related to the nitric oxide pathway, such as endothelial dysfunction ...

BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests that nitric oxide produced via the neuronal nitric oxide synthase is involved mainly in the early response to sepsis, whereas nitric oxide derived from the inducible nitric oxide synthase is responsible during the later phase. We hypothesized that early neuronal and delayed inducible nitric oxide synthase blockade attenuates multiple organ dysfunctions during...

Nitric oxide is produced by almost all cardiac cells, endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes and nerve fibers. It is synthesized by an enzyme, a nitric oxide synthase, which occurs in endothelial, neural and inducible form. The distribution of nitric oxide synthase in the heart is characterized by a pronounced non-uniformity. Nitric oxide exerts its effects in physiological and pathophysiological co...

BACKGROUND Inducible or neuronal nitric oxide synthase gene deletion increases or decreases anxiety-like behavior in mice, respectively. Since nitric oxide and endocannabinoids interact to modulate defensive behavior, the former effect could involve a compensatory increase in basal brain nitric oxide synthase activity and/or changes in the endocannabinoid system. Thus, we investigated the expre...

To elucidate whether cytokines induce nitric oxide synthase in vascular smooth muscle cells, we studied the effects of human recombinant interleukin-1 beta on the synthesis and release of nitric oxide in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells by measurement of NO2-/NO3- levels. Furthermore, we performed Northern blot analysis using subcloned polymerase chain reaction products as probes for c...

Spontaneous calcium waves in cardiac myocytes are caused by diastolic sarcoplasmic reticulum release (SR Ca(2+) leak) through ryanodine receptors. Beta-adrenergic (β-AR) tone is known to increase this leak through the activation of Ca-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMKII) and the subsequent phosphorylation of the ryanodine receptor. When β-AR drive is chronic, as observed in heart failur...