title: The effect of nitric oxide synthases inhibitors on inflammatory bowel disease in a rat model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Overexpression of nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of experimental and clinical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). NO is produced by two types of enzymes: constitutively expressed and inducible NO synthases (NOS). This study assessed N(W)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and aminoguanidine (AMG), the most studied inhibitors of nitric oxide synthases, with regard to their effectiveness as modulators of inflammation in trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis in the rat.
  
  
  METHODS
  Colitis was induced in Wistar rats. The colitis was treated everyday for 10 days with L-NAME and AMG. To assess the severity of the colitis, clinical (body weight), hematological (hematocrit and erythrocytes sedimentation rate-ESR) and morphological (gross and microscopic) criteria were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The administration of both nitric oxide synthases inhibitors L-NAME and AMG proved to be beneficial in all the examined parameters compared with the control group. A statistically significant difference between the L-NAME and the AMG groups was observed only in macroscopic and histological grading.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NOS inhibitors may be promising agents in preventing the onset, or mediating the symptoms, of inflammatory bowel disease.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Propeudeutic Surgery, University of Athens, Sotiria Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Charalambos J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Pilichos
authors.forename: Ilias A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Kouerinis
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Zografos
authors.forename: Dimiris P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Korkolis
authors.forename: Athena A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Preza
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gazouli
authors.forename: Evangelos I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Menenakos
authors.forename: Antonios E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Loutsidis
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zagouri
authors.forename: Vassilis G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Gorgoulis
authors.forename: Constantin I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Fotiadis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006146:Guanidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006400:Hematocrit; D008297:Male; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006146:Guanidines; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; C004479:pimagedine; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester