Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jan 4;5(1):1.
doi: 10.1186/2040-7378-5-1.

Role of N-Nitro-L-Arginine-Methylester as anti-oxidant in transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in rats

Hiba A Awooda  1 , Mohamed F Lutfi, Gihan M Sharara, Amal M Saeed
Affiliations

Role of N-Nitro-L-Arginine-Methylester as anti-oxidant in transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in rats

Hiba A Awooda et al. Exp Transl Stroke Med. .

Abstract

Background: Previous reports assessing the neuroprotective role of nonselective Nitric Oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N-nitro-L-arginine-methylester (L-NAME) following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion are contradictory. The aim of this work was to examine the potential benefits of L-NAME on rats subjected to transient focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.

Methods: The study involved 30 adult male Wistar rats divided into three groups 10 rats in each: First group was sham-operated and served as a control, a ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) group of rats infused with 0.9% normal saline intraperitoneally 15 minutes prior to 30 minutes of left common carotid artery (CCA) occlusion and a test group infused with L-NAME intraperitoneally 15 minutes prior to ischemia. Neurobehavioral assessments were evaluated and quantitative assessment of malondialdehyde (MDA), Nitric oxide (NO) metabolites and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in both serum and the affected cerebral hemisphere were achieved.

Results: Rats' neurological deficit and TAC were significantly decreased while NO and MDA were significantly increased in the I/R compared with the control group (P < 0.001). Alternatively in the L-NAME group, neurological deficit and TAC were significantly improved while NO and MDA were significantly decreased compared to I/R group (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: L-NAME pretreatment for rats undergoing cerebral ischemia/reperfusion significantly improves neurological deficit while reducing oxidative stress biomarkers in the affected cerebral hemisphere.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Neurological deficit of sham operated and in ischemia/reperfusion rats with and without L-NAME. * Significant with controls, Δ Significant with ischemia reperfusion, # Significant with L-NAME.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Serum level of MDA, NO and TAC in sham operated and in ischemia reperfusion rats with and without L-NAME. * Significant with controls, Δ Significant with ischemia reperfusion, # Significant with L-NAME.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Brain tissue level of MDA, NO and TAC in sham operated and in ischemia reperfusion rats with and without L-NAME. * Significant with controls, Δ Significant with ischemia reperfusion, # Significant with L-NAME.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Garthwaite J. Concepts of neural nitric oxide-mediated transmission. Eur J Neurosci. 2008;27:2783–2802. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06285.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ito Y, Ohkubo T, Asano Y, Hattori K, Shimazu T, Yamazato M, Nagoya H, Kato Y, Araki N. Nitric oxide production during cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in eNOS- and nNOS-knockout mice. Curr Neurovasc Res. 2010;7:23–31. doi: 10.2174/156720210790820190. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li H, Forstermann U. Nitric oxide in the pathogenesis of vascular disease. J Pathol. 2000;190:244–254. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9896(200002)190:3<244::AID-PATH575>3.0.CO;2-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gu Y, Zheng G, Xu M, Li Y, Chen X, Zhu W, Tong Y, Chung SK, Liu KJ, Shen J. Caveolin-1 regulates nitric oxide-mediated matrix metalloproteinases activity and blood–brain barrier permeability in focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury. J Neurochem. 2011;120:147–156. - PubMed
    1. Toda N, Ayajiki K, Okamura T. Cerebral blood flow regulation by nitric oxide: recent advances. Pharmacol Rev. 2009;61:62–97. doi: 10.1124/pr.108.000547. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources