Inducible nitric oxide synthase transcription in human lung transplantation.
BACKGROUND
Recent animal data suggest that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) may be useful for the diagnosis of lung rejection. The aim of this study was to evaluate iNOS mRNA transcription in the BAL fluid of human lung allografts.


METHODS
iNOS mRNA transcription was quantified by competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 51 BAL cell pellets of lung transplant patients. According to bacteriological and histological results, BAL samples were divided into three groups: normal (n=21), acute rejection (AR, n=15), and infection (INF, n=15).


RESULTS
Compared with the control group, iNOS transcription increased significantly with INF (P=0.0005) but only slightly with AR (P>0.05). INF values were significantly higher than AR values (P=0.0029).


CONCLUSIONS
BAL iNOS mRNA transcript determination by competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction may be useful in differentiating infected from normal and/or acutely rejecting allografts.
Department of Internal Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305-5236, USA. paola.soccal@stanford.edu
P M
PM
Soccal
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A
Jani
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Chang
C T
CT
Leonard
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Pavlakis
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Doyle
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000235:genetics*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D012313:RNA; C496319:NOS2 protein, human; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II