The expression of CD14+ macrophages, CD4+, CD8+ lymphocytes and mRNA of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was investigated in the endometrium of repeat breeders with subclinical endometritis [experimental group (EXP), n = 10] and healthy [control group (CTRL), n = 10] cows. The cows were selected on the basis of repeat breeding (3 unsuccessful inseminations), clinical and cytological exami...

Acute, nonselective nitric oxide synthase inhibition in the pregnant rat decreases glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow, suggesting a role for nitric oxide in mediating renal vasodilation during pregnancy. As mid-gestation in the rat is associated with a significant increase in renal protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, the aim of this study was to examine the role...

Nitric oxide (NO) production in the rat placenta was monitored and quantified by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy with hemoglobin and an Fe-N-(dithiocarboxy)sarcosine (DTCS) complex as NO-trapping reagents. Expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms was also examined by quantitative RT-PCR analysis. The EPR spectrum of the placenta with hemoglobin trapping showed a thr...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a pluripotent molecule that can be secreted by skeletal muscle through the activity of the neuronal constitutive isoform of NO synthase. To determine whether skeletal muscle and diaphragm might also express the macrophage-inducible form of NO synthase (iNOS) during provocative states, we examined tissue from mice at serial times after intravenous administration of Escherich...

Growing evidence suggests that macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha (synonym CCL3) is upregulated in the neuroinflammatory processes initiated by some brain disorders, but its precise role and regulatory mechanism remain unclear. The present work aims to evaluate the role of CCL3/MIP-1alpha in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced brain injury, and investigate whether the MAPKs and NF-kappaB...

Tuberculosis is a major cause of death in much of the world. Current estimates are that one-third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Most infected persons control the infection but in many cases may not eliminate the organism. Reactivation of this clinically latent infection is responsible for a large proportion of active tuberculosis cases. A major risk fact...

Clinical and experimental studies have shown that myocardial dysfunction is an early event during endotoxemia or septic shock. Several reports have shown that rodents submitted to a mild heat shock become resistant to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or sepsis. The most abundant of the heat shock proteins (HSP), the HSP70, has been postulated to be the principal mediator of the observed protection aga...

The processing of pain undergoes several changes in aging that affect sensory nociceptive fibers and the endogenous neuronal inhibitory systems. So far, it is not completely clear whether age-induced modifications are associated with an increase or decrease in pain perception. In this study, we assessed the impact of age on inflammatory nociception in mice and the role of the hormonal inhibitor...

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exists in the nucleus of highly proliferative cells where it functions as a transcription factor. Although EGFR has transactivational activity, it lacks a DNA binding domain and, therefore, may require a DNA binding transcription cofactor for its transcriptional function. Here, we report that EGFR physically interacts with signal transducers and activator...

1 Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany 2 Department of Neuroimmunology, Institute for Multiple Sclerosis Research and Hertie Foundation, University Medical Centre Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany 3 The Brooke Laboratories, Division of Infection, Inflammation and Immunity, University of Southampton School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospi...