Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) are important vasoactive mediators of septic shock. This study used a well-characterized quantitative permeation method to examine the effect of TNF-α and NO on systemic vascular barrier function in vivo, without confounding endotoxemia, hypotension, or organ damage. Our results showed 1) TNF-α reversibly increased albumin permeation in the sy...

BACKGROUND We have previously reported that high glucose impairs coronary vasodilation by reducing voltage-gated K+ (Kv) channel activity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are potent factors that contribute to the development of diabetic vasculopathy. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of AGEs in high glucose-induced impair...

Diabetes is associated with a mitochondrial dysfunction. Hyperglycaemia is also clearly recognized as the primary culprit in the pathogenesis of cardiac complications. In response to glycation and oxidative stress, cardiac mitochondria undergo cumulative alterations, often leading to heart deterioration. There is a continuous search for innovative treatment strategies for protecting the heart m...

Aging of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells of the eye is marked by accumulations of bisretinoid fluorophores; two of the compounds within this lipofuscin mixture are A2E and all-trans-retinal dimer. These pigments are implicated in pathological mechanisms involved in some vision-threatening disorders including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Studies have shown that bisretinoids are...

We have recently presented evidence that diamine oxidase is rcsponsiblc for a portion of the metabolism of histamine in several species (1, 2). This evidence is largely based on the alteration of histamine metabolism produced by compounds which are known to inhibit diamine oxidase in vitro. The inhibitors used were isonicotinylhydrazine (3) and aminoguanidine. The latter is reported to be the m...

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by an infection and remains as a major challenge in health care. Many studies have reported that pioglitazone may display anti-inflammatory effects. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of subchronic treatment with pioglitazone on high-grade septic mice survival and nitrergic system involvement. Diffused sepsis was induced by ...

The elimination of liver-stage malaria parasites by nitric oxide (NO)-producing hepatocytes is regulated by T cells. Both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, which surround infected hepatocytes, are evident by 24 h after sporozoite challenge in Brown Norway rats previously immunized with irradiated Plasmodium berghei sporozoites. While the number of CD4+ T cells remained the same beyond 24 h postchallenge, ...

Endotoxemia results in both the down-regulation of multiple cytochrome P450 genes and the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2). The nitric oxide (NO) released during inflammation has been implicated as the mediator of the decreased catalytic activity and expression of several cytochrome P450 isozymes. We examined the role of NO in the decreases of both gene expression and activit...

BACKGROUND Mycobacterium tuberculosis can enter into a dormant state which has resulted in one third of the world's population being infected with latent tuberculosis making the study of latency and reactivation of utmost importance. M. tuberculosis encodes five resuscitation promoting factors (Rpfs) that bear strong similarity to a lysozyme-like enzyme previously implicated in reactivation of ...

We performed studies to determine whether chronic hypoxia impairs nitric oxide (NO) signaling in resistance level pulmonary arteries (PAs) of newborn piglets. Piglets were maintained in room air (control) or hypoxia (11% O(2)) for either 3 (shorter exposure) or 10 (longer exposure) days. Responses of PAs to a nonselective NO synthase (NOS) antagonist, N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NA...