Modification of striatal arginine and citrulline metabolism by nitric oxide synthase inhibitors.
The effects of NG-substituted L-arginine (ARG) analogues on striatal ARG and citrulline (CIT) levels were investigated using in vivo microdialysis technique. A microdialysis probe was implanted into the striatum of anaesthesized Sprague-Dawley rats. Direct intrastriatal perfusion with 1 mM NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (n = 8) increased striatal ARG release and decreased CIT release, suggesting suppressed NO synthase activity in the tissue. On the other hand, 1 mM NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) (n = 6) evoked a persistent increase in both ARG and CIT. Considering that 4-320 microM L-ARG (n = 8) failed to increase CIT formation, CIT seems to be synthesized in the striatal tissue from L-NMMA by the enzyme that has been demonstrated in the kidney and aortic endothelium (NG,NG-dimethylarginine dimethyl-aminohydrolase).
Ohta
K
K
Department of Neurology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Shimazu
K
K
Komatsumoto
S
S
Araki
N
N
Shibata
M
M
Fukuuchi
Y
Y
D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002956:Citrulline / Q000378:metabolism*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine
D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine; D002956:Citrulline; D001120:Arginine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester