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It is widely accepted that peripheral injury increases spinal inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) expression and prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) formation as key mediators of nociceptive sensitization. Here, we used inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) genedeficient (iNOSϪ/Ϫ) mice to determine the contribution of iNOSderived nitric oxide (NO) to this process. iNOSϪ/Ϫ mice exhibited reduced thermal hyperalgesia after zymosan injection. Spinal NO and PGE 2 formation both remained at baseline levels, in contrast to wild-type (wt) mice. In wt mice reduced hyperalgesia similar to that seen in iNOSϪ/Ϫ mice was induced by local spinal, but not by systemic treatment with the iNOS inhibitor L-NIL, suggesting that the reduced heat sensitization in iNOSϪ/Ϫ mice was attributable to the lack of spinal rather than peripheral iNOS. Two additional observations indicate that the antinociceptive effects of iNOS inhibition are dependent on a loss of stimulation of PG synthesis. First, intrathecal injection of the COX inhibitor indomethacin, which exerted pronounced antinociceptive effects in wt mice, was completely ineffective in iNOSϪ/Ϫ mice. Second, treatment with the NO donor RE-2047 not only completely restored spinal PG production and thermal sensitization in iNOSϪ/Ϫ mice but also its sensitivity to indomethacin. In both types of mice induction of thermal hyperalgesia was accompanied by similar increases in COX-1 and COX-2 mRNA expression. The stimulation of PG production by NO therefore involves an increase in enzymatic activity, rather than an alteration of COX gene expression. These results indicate that NO derived from spinal iNOS acts as a fast inductor of spinal thermal hyperalgesia. Key words: nitric oxide; inducible nitric oxide synthase; zymosan; thermal hyperalgesia; paw edema; spinal microdialysis; L-NIL; RE-2047; prostaglandins; cyclooxygenaseAcute tissue damage is often accompanied by the fast development of hyperalgesia and allodynia (Andrew and Greenspan, 1999). Both peripheral mechanisms at the site of injury and central processes particularly in the spinal cord contribute to this phenomenon. Prostaglandins (PGs) Brune, 1994) as well as nitric oxide (NO) (Lawand et al., 1997) are produced in response to tissue damage peripherally and centrally. Whereas PGs are generally accepted to play a dominant role in nociceptive sensitization (Bley et al., 1998), the role of NO is less clear. Also some authors claim of an anti-nociceptive action of NO (Goettl and Larson, 1996;Hamalainen and Lovick, 1997), most favor a pronociceptive activity Kawabata et al., 1994;Chen and Levine, 1999). Part of this controversy may arise from the existence of three different isoenzymes of NO synthase (NOS) (Gonzalez-Hernandez and Rustioni, 1999), which may have distinct effects on nociception, and from the lack of specific inhibitors for these different isoforms. In the CNS including the spinal cord, NO is thought to be primarily produced by the neuronal isoform of NOS (nNOS) (Downen et al., 1999). However, endothelial NOS is also found in neur...

Due to the development of technology and experience, more and more diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures are performed on a daily basis. In our study, a high volume of cases in a particular room and use of large catheters were important risk factors for FPA complications. When these situations are combined with other risk factors (such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis), giving particular attention to local compression therapy would be more crucial to decrease the FPA rate.

It is generally accepted that the phospholipase-A2-cyclooxygenase-prostanoids-cascade mediates spinal sensitization and hyperalgesia. However, some observations are not in line with this hypothesis. The aim of the present work was to investigate whether different components of this cascade exhibit nociceptive or antinociceptive effects in the rat formalin test. Intrathecal (i.th.) injection of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) induced a dose-dependent antinociceptive effect on the formalin-induced nociception. Furthermore, thimerosal, which inhibits the reacylation of arachidonic acid thereby enhancing arachidonic acid levels, had an antinociceptive effect rather than the expected pronociceptive effect when given i.th. While the phospholipase A2 inhibitor methyl arachidonyl fluorophosphonate (MAFP; i.th.) had a significant antinociceptive effect, its analogue palmitoyl trifluoromethyl ketone (PTFMK; i.th.) had no significant effect on the formalin-induced nociception. However, MAFP, but not PTFMK, showed a cannabinoid CB1 agonistic effect as shown by the inhibition of electrically evoked contractions of the vas deferens isolated from CB1 wild-type mice but not of that from CB1 knockout mice. The antinociceptive effect of MAFP was completely reversed by the CB1 receptor antagonist AM-251 (i.th.), thus attributing such effect to its CB1 agonistic effect. Moreover, the antinociceptive effect of the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, flurbiprofen (i.th.) was reversed by the co-administration of AM-251, but not by PGE2. Finally. the combination of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF; intraperitoneal), which inhibits the degradation of anandamide through the inhibition of fatty acid amidohydrolase, with thimerosal (i.th.) produced a profound CB1-dependent antinociception. The present results show that endocannabinoids play a major role in mediating flurbiprofen-induced antinociception at the spinal level.

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Background. It is well known that diabetes mellitus may cause testicular damage. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nerve growth factor beta (NGF-β) are important neurotrophic factors for male reproductive system. Objective. We aimed to investigate the correlation between testicular damage and testicular VEGF and NGF-β levels in diabetic rats. Methods. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ, 45 mg/kg/i.p.) in adult rats. Five weeks later testicular tissue was removed; testicular VEGF and NGF-β levels were measured by ELISA. Testicular damage was detected by using hematoxylin and eosin staining and periodic acid-Schiff staining, and apoptosis was identified by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL). Seminiferous tubular sperm formation was evaluated using Johnsen's score. Results. In diabetic rats, seminiferous tubule diameter was found to be decreased; basement membrane was found to be thickened in seminiferous tubules and degenerated germ cells. Additionally, TUNEL-positive cells were increased in number of VEGF+ cells and levels of VEGF and NGF-β were decreased in diabetic testes. Correlation between VEGF and NGF-β levels was strong. Conclusion. These results suggest that the decrease of VEGF and NGF-β levels is associated with the increase of the apoptosis and testicular damage in diabetic rats. Testis VEGF and NGF-β levels could be potential novel biomarkers for diabetes induced testicular damage.

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