The neuronal cell damage caused by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in brain has been reported to be associated, at least in part, with many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. We recently observed vacuolation and astrocytosis in the brains of ME7 scrapie strain-infected C57BL mice. To investigate if these phenomena might have a relationship to iNOS, the level of iNO...

Neurogenesis continues in the adult brain and in the adult olfactory epithelium. The cytokine, leukaemia inhibitory factor and nitric oxide are both known to stimulate neuronal progenitor cell proliferation in the olfactory epithelium after injury. Our aim here was to determine whether these observations are independent, specifically, whether leukaemia inhibitory factor triggers neural precurso...

The quenching of the Y(D)(.) tyrosyl radical in photosystem II by nitric oxide was reported to result from the formation of a weak tyrosyl radical-nitric oxide complex (Petrouleas, V., and Diner, B. A. (1990) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1015, 131-140). This radical/radical reaction is expected to generate an electron spin resonance (ESR)-silent 3-nitrosocyclohexadienone species that can reversibly r...

Nitric oxide plays a central role in the physiology and pathology of diverse tissues including the immune system. It is clear that the levels of nitric oxide must be carefully regulated to maintain homeostasis. Appropriate levels of nitric oxide derived from iNOS assist in mounting an effective defense against invading microbes. Conversely, inability to generate nitric oxide results in serious,...

PURPOSE To investigate the possible free radical-scavenging activity of an extract of Cineraria maritima on selenite-induced cataractous lenses in Wistar rat pups. METHODS In the present study, Wistar rat pups were divided into three experimental groups. On P10, Group I (control) rat pups received an intraperitoneal injection of 0.89% saline. Rats in groups II (selenite-challenged, untreated)...

Experiments were designed to examine whether or not insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), which is produced by vascular cells in response to injury, affects the production of nitric oxide evoked by the inducible nitric oxide synthase in cultures of smooth muscle cells from the rat aorta. Nitric oxide production was assessed indirectly by the measurement of nitrite accumulation and nitric oxide ...

An L-arginine-dependent pathway, metabolising L-arginine to citrulline and nitrogen oxides, has been described in many cell types in different species, including man. Two subtypes of this nitric oxide synthase have been reported: a constitutive enzyme type, releasing nitric oxide after stimulation, is typically found in endothelial and neural cells; another subtype can be induced in macrophages...

During glomerular inflammation mesangial cells are the major source and target of nitric oxide that pro-foundly influences proliferation, adhesion, and death of mesangial cells. The effect of nitric oxide on the mRNA expression pattern of cultured rat mesangial cells was therefore investigated by RNA-arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction. Employing this approach, biglycan expression turn...

OBJECTIVE We evaluated the effect of hyperhomocystinemia and angiotensin (Ang) II on vascular function and structure in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase knockout mice (Mthfr+/-). METHODS AND RESULTS Mthfr+/- and controls (Mthfr+/+) received Ang II (400 ng/kg per min SC) or saline (14 days). Blood pressure, similar in Mthfr+/- and Mthfr+/+, was increased by Ang II. Acetylcholine- and bradyk...

PURPOSE We attempted to determine whether oral L-arginine, the substrate for nitric oxide synthase, increases nitric oxide synthase activity and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels in the urine from interstitial cystitis patients. Nitric oxide and cGMP are decreased in urine from interstitial cystitis patients and both induce smooth muscle relaxation and immunological responses. Increa...