The influence of dietary sodium restriction and angiotensin II blockade on hypertension induced by a 25-day period of administration of the inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (10 mg/kg twice daily by gavage) was assessed in Wistar rats fed a normal or low sodium diet. In addition, the angiotensin II receptor blocker losartan (30 mg/kg once daily by gavage) was ...

  The involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in the reinforcing properties of opioids was studied by examining the effect of a NO precursor (L-arginine) and NO synthase inhibitor (L-nitro-amino-methyl-ester, L-NAME) on the conditioned place preference (CPP) induced by morphine. The experiment was performed on male albino Swiss- White mice (25 ± 5 g). L-arginine in doses of 100, 200 and 500 mg/kg (i.p...

These studies describe the IgE-mediated relase of a basophil kallikrein-like enzyme that is an arginine esterase and is inhibited by plasma, diisopropylphosphofluoridate, and Trasylol. The substrate specificity for the synthetic amino acid ester substrates p-toluenesulfonyl-L-arginien methyl ester, benzoyl-arginine methyl ester, and acetyl-tyrosine methyl ester is similar for the basophil enzym...

Background: During the initial phase of an infection, there is an upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the macrophages for the production of nitric oxide. This is followed by the recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (neutrophils) which release arginase. Arginase competes with inducible nitric oxide synthase for a common substrate L-arginine. Objective: To investigate whethe...

To test the hypothesis that NO contributes to effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors on fibrinolysis, fibrinolytic balance was assessed in 17 normal subjects during placebo and after randomized, double-blind 4-week treatment with the NO precursor L-arginine (3 g TID), ramipril (10 mg QD), or L-arginine+ramipril. Neither L-arginine nor ramipril alone affected basal plasminogen activ...

The relaxant effect of the methyl ester of rosuvastatin was evaluated on aortic rings from male Wistar rats (250-300 g, 6 rats for each experimental group) with and without endothelium precontracted with 1.0 µM phenylephrine. The methyl ester presented a slightly greater potency than rosuvastatin in relaxing aortic rings, with log IC50 values of -6.88 and -6.07 M, respectively. Unlike rosuvasta...

The germination of Bacillus cereus T spore suspensions is partially prevented by several inhibitors of trypsin-like enzymes. Leupeptin, antipain, and tosyl-lysine-chloromethyl ketone are effective inhibitors, whereas chymostatin, elastatinal, and pepstatin are inactive. A synthetic substrate of trypsin, tosyl-arginine-methyl ester, also inhibits germination. Its inhibitory effect decreases as a...

The dibasic amino acid, L-arginine, is a substrate for both nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and arginase and therefore, plays an important role in cell signaling and cell growth. We examined the effects of various NOS inhibitors on L-arginine transport into rat renal brush border membrane (BBM) vesicles. L-Arginine uptake was stimulated in the presence of an inwardly directed Na+ gradient and an im...

OBJECTIVES Tension cost, the ratio of myosin ATPase activity to tension, reflects the economy of tension development in the myocardium. To evaluate the mechanical advantage represented by the tension cost, we studied papillary muscle contractility and the activity of myosin ATPase in the left ventricles in normal and pathophysiological conditions. METHODS Experimental protocols were performed...