title: Selective in vivo inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase in a rat model of sepsis.
abstract: Elevated production of nitric oxide (NO) by the inducible NO synthase (type II, iNOS) may contribute to the vascular hyporesponsiveness and hemodynamic alterations associated with sepsis. Selective inhibition of this isoenzyme is a possible therapeutic intervention to correct these pathophysiological alterations. Aminoguanidine has been shown to be a selective iNOS inhibitor and to correct the endotoxin-mediated vascular hypocontractility in vitro. However, to date aminoguanidine has not been shown to selectively block iNOS activity in vivo. The in vivo effects of aminoguanidine were assessed in the cecal ligation and perforation model of sepsis in rats. Aminoguanidine (1.75-175 mg/kg) was administered to septic and sham-operated rats for 3 h before euthanasia and harvest of tissues. NOS activities were determined in the thoracic aorta and lung from these animals. Aminoguanidine (17.5 mg/kg) did not alter the mean arterial pressure; however, it did inhibit induced iNOS (but not constitutive NOS) activity in the lung and thoracic aorta from septic animals. Only the higher dose of aminoguanidine (175 mg/kg) was able to increase the mean arterial pressure in septic and sham-operated animals. Thus selective inhibition of iNOS in vivo with aminoguanidine is possible, but our data suggest that other mechanisms, in addition to iNOS induction, are responsible for the loss of vascular tone characteristic of sepsis.
authors.affiliation: A. C. Burton Vascular Biology Laboratory, Departments of Respiratory Medicine, Pharmacology, and Toxicology, London Health Sciences Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 4G5.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: McCormack
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000187:drug effects; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D002432:Cecum / Q000502:physiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006146:Guanidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000503:physiopathology; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008026:Ligation; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018805:Sepsis / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006146:Guanidines; D019344:Lactic Acid; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat; C004479:pimagedine; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester