We previously found that chronic exogenous hyperinsulinemia without sugar supplementation does not elevate blood pressure. This may be partially explained by the ability of insulin to release nitric oxide and cause vasodilatation. To test this hypothesis, we studied 4 groups of rats: 9 rats (body weight, 213+/-14 g) treated with a gradual increase of a sustained-release subcutaneous insulin pel...

Chronic NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) administration induces cardiac hypertrophy in rodent models. Our aims is to determine the role of c-kit expression in L-NAME induced cardiac hypertrophy. 12-20 week old C57BL/6J mice (5 per group) were administered L-NAME (0.325mg/ml) in the drinking water. Hearts were excised at 1-day, 2-days, 5-days, 2-weeks or 6-weeks; or controls which recei...

The regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) 2, a GTPase-activating protein, is activated via the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway and thereby may influence blood pressure regulation. To test that notion, we measured mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) with telemetry in N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME, 5 mg l-NAME/10 ml tap water)-treated RGS2-deficient (RGS2(-/-))...

The present study tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide production in coronary resistance vessels is an important mechanism affecting the regulation of myocardial perfusion in unanesthetized dogs. We inhibited nitric oxide synthesis with the arginine analogue N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 10 mg/kg) and maintained the compressive determinants of myocardial blood flow constant ...

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effect of long-term nitric oxide synthase inhibition by NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME) on the morphology and viscoelastic properties of the carotid arteries in rats. Twelve-week-old Wistar-Kyoto rats were treated for 6 weeks with either the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME (0.4 g/L in drinking water; L-NAME rats, n = 13) or tap ...

The present study was performed to evaluate angiotensin II (Ang II)-nitric oxide (NO) interaction in afferent arterioles (Af) of wild-type mice and mice that are homozygous (-/-) for disruption of the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) gene. Af were microperfused, and the dose responses were assessed for the NO precursor L-arginine (n = 4), NO inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, n =...

We analyzed the effects of a possible interaction between nitric oxide deficiency and mineralocorticoids on the long-term control of blood pressure and renal and endocrine variables. Six groups of uninephrectomized male Wistar rats were used: control animals and rats that received (1) N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) subpressor (0.5 mg/100 mL drinking fluid), (2) L-NAME pressor (35 m...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This study investigated whether the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME) would alter blood flow and oxygen balance in the ischemic cerebrocortex of isoflurane-anesthetized Long-Evans rats. METHODS Fifteen minutes after middle cerebral artery occlusion, L-NAME (1.5 mg/min per kilogram) was infused intravenously to the L-NAME group (n ...

Earlier, we demonstrated that the inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) by nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) infusion increases the endogenous production of proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α). In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production leads to the suppression of interleukin (IL)-10 (anti-inflammatory cytokine) ...