title: Effects of inhaled L-arginine administration in a murine model of acute asthma.
abstract: Increased arginase activity in the airways decreases L-arginine and causes deficiency of bronchodilating and anti-inflammatory nitric oxide (NO) in asthma. As, it is suggested that L-arginine may have therapeutic potential in asthma treatment, we aimed to investigate the effects of inhaled L-arginine on oxygen saturation (SaO₂) and airway histology in a murine model of acute asthma. Twenty eight BALB/c mice were divided into four groups; I, II, III and IV (control). All groups except the control were sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin. After establishement of acute asthma attack by metacholine administration, the mice were treated with inhaled L-arginine (Group I), saline (Group II) and budesonide (Group III), respectively. SaO₂was measured by pulse oximeter just before and 5 min after methacholine. A third measurement of SaO₂was also obtained 15 min after drug administration in these study groups. Inflammation in the lung tissues of the sacrificed animals were scored to determine the effects of the study drugs. The number of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was determined. The results indicated that inflammatory scores significantly improved in groups receiving study drugs when compared with placebo and L-arginine was similar in decreasing scores when compared with budesonide. SaO₂had a tendency to increase after L-arginine administration after acute asthma attack and this increase was statistically significant (p=0.043). Eosinophilia in BAL significantly reduced in group receiving L-arginine when compared with placebo (p<0.05). Thus in this study we demonstrated that L-arginine improved SaO₂and inflammatory scores in an acute model of asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. zeynep.ayyildiz@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Arikan-Ayyildiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Animal Laboratory, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. meral.karaman@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Meral
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karaman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. fatih.firinci@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Firinci
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. muge.kiray@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Muge
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiray
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. alper.bagriyanik@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bagriyanik
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Animal Laboratory, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. osman.yilmaz@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. nuzuner@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Nevin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uzuner
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. ozkan.karaman@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Ozkan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karaman
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D016085:Bronchoconstrictor Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D019819:Budesonide; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D016210:Methacholine Chloride / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016085:Bronchoconstrictor Agents; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019819:Budesonide; D001120:Arginine