Immunosuppressants FK506 and cyclosporin A inhibit neurotoxicity of N-methyl-D-aspartate in primary cortical cultures, while having no effect on quisqualate- and kainate-mediated neurotoxicity. Rapamycin completely reverses the neuroprotective effect of FK506. Both FK506 and cyclosporin A inhibit NMDA-elicited/nitric oxide-mediated increases in cGMP levels in cortical cultures. FK506 has no eff...

the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nigella sativa  (ns) fixed oil in comparison to dexamethasone (dex) on inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos), peripheral blood eosinophils (pbe), allergen specific serum igg1 and interleukins and airway inflammation in a murine model of allergic asthma. thirty-one mice were divided into four groups. group  i (n =  6) served as the control...

Hypertension is accompanied by architectural changes in the kidney, heart, and vessels that are often maladaptive and can eventually contribute to end-organ disease such as renal failure, heart failure, and coronary disease. Nitric oxide, an endogenous vasodilator and antithrombotic agent synthesized in the endothelium by a constitutive nitric oxide synthase, inhibits growth-related responses t...

The identification of human inflammatory cells that express inducible nitric oxide synthase and the clarification of the role of inducible nitric oxide synthase in human infectious or inflammatory processes have been elusive. In neutrophil-enriched fractions from urine, we demonstrate a 43-fold increase in nitric oxide synthase activity in patients with urinary tract infections compared with th...

Background: During the initial phase of an infection, there is an upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the macrophages for the production of nitric oxide. This is followed by the recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (neutrophils) which release arginase. Arginase competes with inducible nitric oxide synthase for a common substrate L-arginine. Objective: To investigate whethe...

Background & Aims: The activity of nitric oxide synthase was assayed in enterocytes isolated from human duodenal biopsies to determine its role in celiac disease. Patients were categorized into those with irritable bowel syndrome, iron deficiency anemia, B12/folate deficiency and treated and untreated celiac disease. Methods & Results: Enterocytes isolated from all groups showed 1400W-inhibitab...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Nitric oxide-mediated cerebral vasodilation is altered in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats. Stroke predisposition in this strain could be related to a genetic defect of brain nitric oxide synthase, the enzyme responsible for nitric oxide production. We tested the hypothesis that brain nitric oxide synthase activity is altered in spontaneously hypertensive stro...

1. Nitric oxide is a potent vasodilator which plays a major role in the control of blood pressure. The hyperdynamic circulation of cirrhosis has been linked to nitric oxide.2. We measured neutrophil nitric oxide synthase activity in relation to the level of hepatic dysfunction in patients with liver disease of varying aetiology and severity.3. Neutrophils were isolated from 21 patients (7 Child...

Nitric oxide is implicated in methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity; however, the source of the nitric oxide has not been identified. Previous work has also revealed that animals with partial dopamine loss induced by a neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine fail to exhibit further decreases in striatal dopamine when re-exposed to methamphetamine 7-30 days later. The current study examined...

Chronic ethanol consumption is associated with an increased prevalence of hypertension. The mechanisms of this form of hypertension are unknown. Rats fed ethanol for 2 days develop a tolerance to the acute vasoconstrictive effects of ethanol that is believed to be endothelium dependent. We investigated the effects of acute and chronic ethanol exposure on agonist-stimulated nitric oxide synthase...