The purposes of this study were 1) to identify the nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) isoform responsible for NO-mediated radiation-induced lung injury, 2) to examine the formation of nitrotyrosine, and 3) to see whether nitrotyrosine formation and lung injury are reduced by an inducible NOS (iNOS) inhibitor, aminoguanidine. The left hemithorax of rats was irradiated (20 Gy), and the degree of lu...

BACKGROUND Cardiac contusion is an important cause of mortality after blunt chest trauma (BCT). The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of the usage of aminoguanidine (AG), in myocardial damage occurring after BCT, alone and in combination with methylprednisolone (MP). METHODS Thirty-five female Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to five groups (n = 7) includi...

Podocalyxin represents a Wilms' tumor suppressor protein (WT1)-regulated differentiation marker for glomerular epithelium. We provide evidence concerning mechanisms involved in the regulation of podocalyxin expression following long-term exposure to increased (25 mM) glucose levels. Prolonged culture of conditionally immortalized human podocytes in 25 mM glucose induced suppression of podocalyx...

OBJECTIVE To determine the mechanism underlying increased expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) by rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RA-SMC) after inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). METHODS AND RESULTS Treatment of interleukin-1beta-stimulated RA-SMC with aminoguanidine led to an increase of 96% in MMP-9 activity (P = 0.003) by gelatin zymography, a 40...

BACKGROUND/AIMS In liver cirrhosis/portal hypertension, collaterals as varices may bleed and are influenced by vasoresponsiveness. An angiotensin blockade ameliorates portal hypertension but the influence on collaterals is unknown. METHODS Portal hypertension and cirrhosis were induced by portal vein (PVL) and common bile duct ligation (BDL). Hemodynamics, real-time PCR of angiotensin II rece...

Aminoguanidine (AG) is a nucleophilic compound that inhibits nonenzymatic, glucose-derived collagen cross-linking in animal tissues. Whether AG can attenuate the accumulation of collagen cross-links in the Biceps femoris muscle of 64-wk-old broiler breeder hens as well as improve meat quality, was investigated. Eighty-four broiler breeder hens (30-wk-old) were divided into four equal groups. Ea...

A water-soluble and low-molecular-weight fraction (SB) was obtained from tomato paste. The effects of SB on the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) in protein glycation were studied by the methods of specific fluorescence, ELISA and a Western blot analysis, using the anti-AGE antibody after incubating protein with sugar. The results suggest that SB had strong inhibitory activity,...

The NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemical technique is commonly used to localize the nitric oxide (NO) produced by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in neural tissue. The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is induced in the late stage of cerebral ischemia, and NO produced by iNOS contributes to the delay in recovery from brain neuronal damage. The present study was per...

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-regulated contractility in pericytes may play an important role in mediating pulmonary microvascular fluid hemodynamics during inflammation and sepsis. LPS has been shown to regulate inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) in various cell types, leading to NO generation, which is associated with vasodilatation. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis th...