Nitric oxide, synthesized from the semiessential amino acid L-arginine by nitric oxide synthase, is a remarkable regulatory molecule and plays an important role in physiological functions. However, the physiological role of nitric oxide in cardiovascular regulation by the central nervous system is not well understood. In this study we investigated the cardiovascular effects of nitric oxide in the lateral ventricle, nucleus tractus solitarii, area postrema, and rostral ventrolateral medulla in urethane-anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats. Microinjection of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, into the cerebral ventricle of rats elicited a dose-dependent increase in blood pressure and heart rate. This suggests that nitric oxide may be involved in central cardiovascular regulation. Unilateral microinjection (60 nL) of L-arginine (1 to 100 nmol) into the nucleus tractus solitarii and rostral ventrolateral medulla produced prominent dose-related depressor and bradycardic effects and reduced renal sympathetic nerve activity. However, L-arginine had no significant cardiovascular effects in the area postrema. In addition, 4 to 6 hours after intravenous injection of bacterial endotoxin-lipopolysaccharide (10 mg/kg), there was a time-related potentiation of the L-arginine-induced depressor and bradycardic effects in the nucleus tractus solitarii. These results indicate that nitric oxide is involved in central cardiovascular regulation. The depressor effect of nitric oxide in the nucleus tractus solitarii and rostral ventrolateral medulla may be through inhibition of renal sympathetic nerve activity.

1 Our previous study demonstrated that the aortic inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and the plasma nitrite level in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were greater than that in age-matched Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). We subsequently hypothesized that the overexpression of iNOS might play an important role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in SHR. 2 In the present study, pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC, 10 mg kg 71 day 71 , p.o., antioxidant and nuclear factor-k B inhibitor) and aminoguanidine (15 mg kg 71 day 71 , p.o., selective inhibitor of iNOS) was used to treat SHR and WKY from age of 5 weeks through 16 weeks. 3 We found that PDTC and aminoguanidine signi®cantly suppressed the development of hypertension and improved the diminished vascular responses to acetylcholine in SHR but not in WKY. Likewise, the increase of iNOS expression, nitrotyrosine immunostaining, nitric oxide production and superoxide anion formation in adult SHR were also signi®cantly suppressed by chronic treatment with PDTC and aminoguanidine. 4 In conclusion, this study demonstrated that both PDTC and aminoguanidine signi®cantly attenuated the development of hypertension in SHR. The results suggest that PDTC suppresses iNOS expression due to its anti-oxidant and/or nuclear factor-k B inhibitory properties. However, the e ect of aminoguanidine was predominantly mediated by inhibition of iNOS activity, thereby reducing peroxynitrite formation. We propose that the development of a more speci®c and potent inhibitor of iNOS might be bene®cial in preventing pathological conditions such as the essential hypertension.

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In this study, Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) dose-dependently (100-300 microg/ml) and time-dependently (10-60 min) inhibited platelet aggregation in human platelets stimulated by agonists. LPS also dose-dependently inhibited the phosphoinositide breakdown and the intracellular Ca+2 mobilization in human platelets stimulated by collagen. LPS (300 microg/ml) also significantly inhibited the thromboxane A2 formation stimulated by collagen in human platelets. Moreover, LPS (100-300 microg/ml) dose-dependently decreased the fluorescence of platelet membranes tagged with diphenylhexatrience. In addition, LPS (200 and 300 microg/ml) significantly increased the formation of cyclic GMP but not cyclic AMP in platelets. LPS (200 microg/ml) also significantly increased the production of nitrate within a 30 min incubation period. Rapid phosphorylation of a platelet protein of Mr 47,000, a marker of protein kinase C activation, was triggered by phorbol-12-13-dibutyrate (PDBu, 50 nM). This phosphorylation was markedly inhibited by LPS (200 microg/ml) within a 30 min incubation period. These results indicate that the antiplatelet activity of LPS may be involved in two important pathways. (1) LPS may induce conformational changes in the platelet membrane, leading to change in the activity of phospholipase C. (2) LPS also activated the formation of nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP in human platelets, resulting in inhibition of platelet aggregation. Therefore, LPS-mediated alteration of platelet function may contribute to bleeding diathesis in septicaemic and endotoxaemic patients.

We had detected a slightly, but significantly, higher level of plasma nitrite/nitrate in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) by using the nitric oxide (NO) analyzer (Sievers 280 NOA), which converts nitrate (including nitrate converted from nitrite) to NO. Here, we examined whether the release of NO from protein-bound dinitrosyl nonheme iron complexes (DNIC) contributes to the elevated plasma nitrate level in the SHR. The SHR and their genetic normotensive controls, Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY), were anesthestized and cannulized for monitoring blood pressure, collecting a blood sample, and the administration of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]). The nitrate levels (an indicator of NO formation) in the plasma and the aorta were measured by an NO analyzer. In addition, the relaxation of acetylcholine (ACh) in the presence or absence of N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) was also examined in thoracic aortae obtained from both strains. The slight, but significant, increase of basal nitrate levels in the plasma and aorta were observed, and the former was further enhanced in SHR treated with LPS for 3 h. In vitro, the ACh-induced relaxation was attenuated in the aortae obtained from SHR. However, this difference between SHR and WKY (without LPS treatment) was abolished by treatment of rings with L-NAME (30 micromol/L), suggesting that an impairment of NO formation was observed in the SHR. After rats were treated with LPS for 3 h, the ACh-induced relaxation was reduced in the WKY, but not in the SHR. In addition, a 10-fold increase of L-NAME was needed to abolish the difference in ACh-induced relaxation between SHR and WKY, indicating an expression of inducible NO synthase in both strains treated with LPS. We suggest that the elevated plasma NO level in SHR may be due to the release of NO from DNIC in the vascular bed to combat the hypertensive state.