Affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen and prooxidant-antioxidant equilibrium after administration of lipopolysaccharide during correction of the L-arginine—NO pathway

Abstract

Effects of correction of the L-arginine--NO pathway on the fever reaction, oxygen transport function of the blood, and prooxidant-antioxidant equilibrium in rats injected intramuscularly with lipopolysaccharide were studied, pH, Pco2, Po2, and the index of hemoglobin oxygen affinity (p50) were measured in mixed venous blood. Levels of Schiff bases, c~-tocopherol, and catalase activity were determined in erythrocytes and in the liver, kidneys, and heart. NO synthase inhibitor attenuated the fever reaction and decreased p50 to 28.89+0.83 mm Hg (in rats administered with lipopolysaccharide, p50 was 34.214-1.63 mm Hg). The increase in the content of Schiff bases and the exhaustion of the antioxidant system in erythrocytes and tissues were less pronounced in rats injected with the NO synthase inhibitor than in animals receiving lipopolysaccharide only. Various parameters of the prooxidant-antioxidant equilibrium correlated with p50. Thus, hemoglobin oxygen affinity and NO are important factors involved in the maintenance of the prooxidant-antioxidant equilibrium in the body.