• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.551-554
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• 2003

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) has been reported in uterus. We examined the expression of the NOS isoforms, constitutive endothelial (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS), in bovine uterus by immunohistochemistry. eNOS immunoreactivity was localized predominantly to the endothelial cells that line uterine microvessels and to endometrial glandular epithelial cells, but was barely detectable in endometrial stromal cells. iNOS immunostaining was detected in glandular epithelial and stromal cells in the endometrium and in the endothelial cells of myometrial blood vessels. These findings suggest that both eNOS and iNOS may play important roles in the physiology of the uterus, possibly by generating NO.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.283-287
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• 2003

While nitric oxide (NO) produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is beneficial for host survival, it is also detrimental to the host. Thus, regulation of iNOS gene expression may be an effective therapeutic strategy for the prevention of unwanted reactions at various pathologic conditions. During the screening process for the possible iNOS regulators, we observed that esculetin is a potent inhibitor of cytokine-induced iNOS expression. The treatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with the tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF) induced iNOS expression, leading to enhanced NO production. TNF-induced NO production was inhibited by esculetin in a dose-dependent manner. Esculetin inhibited the TNF-induced NO production at the transcriptional level through suppression of iNOS mRNA and subsequent iNOS protein expression. These results suggest esculetin, a component of natural products, as a naturally occurring, nontoxic means to attenuate iNOS expression and NO-mediated cytotoxicity.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.180-187
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• 2013

Hypoxia is an integral part of the environment during luteolysis. In this study we examined whether hypoxia could directly stimulate endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide (NO). Endothelial cells were cultured in hypoxic (5% $O_2$) or normoxic (20% $O_2$) conditions and the levels of total NO, inducible NO and endothelial NO was measured. We found that hypoxia but not normoxia upregulated NO production. The increased NO levels correlated with increased inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression whereas expression of endothelial NOS (eNOS) expression remained constant. Addition of the iNOS specific inhibitor 1400W to hypoxic cultures prevented NO production suggesting that hypoxia-induced NO production in endothelial cells was due mainly to upregulation of iNOS. We also found that prostaglandin $F_{2{\alpha}}$ (PGF) production was unaffected by hypoxia suggesting that upregulation of NO was not due to increased synthesis of PGF. In summary, we report that endothelial cells cultured under hypoxic conditions produce NO via the iNOS pathway. This study provides the importance of the relation between the hypoxic environment and the induction of NO by endothelial cells during regression of the corpus luteum in the ovary.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1048-1053
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• 2009

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of chitosan on nitric oxide (NO) content and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity in serum, and relative expression of iNOS mRNA in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of broiler chickens. A total of 240 one-day-old Arbor Acre mixed-sex broiler chickens were randomly allotted to six dietary treatments with five replicates in each treatment and eight chickens in each replicate. The broiler chickens in the six treatments were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 0.05, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg chitosan. The trial lasted for 42 days. The results showed that dietary chitosan enhanced NO content and iNOS activity in serum as well as iNOS mRNA expression in the duodenum and ileum of broiler chickens in a quadratic dose-dependent manner (p<0.05), and improved jejunum iNOS mRNA expression in a quadratic dose-dependent manner (p<0.10) with increasing addition of chitosan. Chicks fed a diet containing 0.5-1.0 g/kg chitosan had higher NO content and iNOS activity in serum as well as small-intestinal iNOS mRNA expression compared with birds given the control diet, but positive effects of chitosan tended to be suppressed when addition of chitosan in the diet was increased to 2.0 g/kg. These results implied that there was a threshold level of chitosan inclusion beyond which progressive reductions in serum NO content and small intestinal iNOS expression occured, and the regulation of chitosan on immune functions in chickens is probably associated with activated expression of iNOS and NO secretion.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.301-305
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• 2003

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important bioactive agent that mediates a wide variety of physiological and pathophysiological events. NO overproduction by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) results in severe hypotension and inflammation. This investigation is part of a study to discover new iNOS inhibitors from medicinal plants using a macrophage cell culture system. Two sesquiterpenes (1 and 2) were isolated from Artemisia iwayomogi (Compositae) and were found to inhibit NO synthesis ($IC_{50} 3.64 \mu g/mL and 2.81 \mu$g/mL, respectively) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 cells. Their structures were identified as 3-Ο-methyl-iso-secotanapartholide (1) and iso-secotanapartholide (2). Compounds 1 and 2 inhibited the LPS-induced expression of the iNOS enzyme in the RAW 264.7 cells. The inhibition of NO production via the down regulation of iNOS expression may substantially modulate the inflammatory responses.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.196-200
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• 2019

Effect of retinoids, i.e., all-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid, on the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was evaluated in human malignant keratinocytes to examine the possible correlation of retinoids with NOS activities. All-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid did not alter the nitric oxide (NO) production. However, in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, $1{\mu}g/mL$), they significantly increased NO release in a dose-dependent manner until 48 h at concentrations of $50{\sim}100{\mu}M$. The degree of upregulation of NO by all-trans retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid increased up to 35% and 37%, respectively, compared to that by the control, which demonstrated the upregulation of LPS-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-dependent generation of NO as well as showing a crucial link between retinoids-induced activity and NOS. Findings of this study now suggest that the upregulation of LPS-iNOS activity may be associated with modulation of retinoids-induced control of cellular developmental processes, which may produce new therapeutics of retinoids in the complexity of how NO affects human keratinocytes.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.511-515
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• 2014

In a screen for plant-derived inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, a flavonol isolated from the chloroform extract of Alpinia officinarum was isolated. The structure of the flavonol was found to be 3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-phenylchromen-4-one (galangin, GLG) by using spectroscopy. GLG exhibited an inhibitory effect ($IC_{50}$ value: $26.8{\mu}M$) on NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. Moreover, GLG suppressed expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein and mRNA in a dose-dependent manner.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2008

Purpose: The nitric oxide (NO) release by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is the key events in macrophage response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which is suggested to be a crucial mediator for inflammatory and innate immune responses. NO is an important mediator involved in many host defense action and may also lead to a harmful host response to bacterial infection. However, given the importance of iNOS in a variety of pathophysiological conditions, control of its expression and signaling events in response to LPS has been the subject of considerable investigation. Materials and Methods: The Raw264.7 macrophage cell line was used to observe LPS-stimulated iNOS expression. The expression of iNOS is observed by Western blot analysis and real-time RT-PCR. Protein kinase C $(PKC)-{\alpha}$ overexpressing Raw264.7 cells are established to determine the involvement of $PKC-{\alpha}$ in LPS-mediated iNOS expression. $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity is measured by $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and $NF-{\kappa}B$ luciferase activity assay. Results: We found that various PKC isozymes regulate LPS-induced iNOS expression at the transcriptional and translational levels. The involvement of $PKC-{\alpha}$ in LPS-mediated iNOS induction was further confirmed by increased iNOS expression in $PKC-{\alpha}$ overexpressing cells. $NF-{\kappa}B$ dependent transactivation by LPS was observed and $PKC-{\alpha}$ specific inhibitory peptide abolished this activation, indicating that $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation is dependent on $PKC-{\alpha}$. Conclusion: Our data suggests that $PKC-{\alpha}$ is involved in LPS-mediated iNOS expression and that its downstream target is $NF-{\kappa}B$. Although $PKC-{\alpha}$ is a crucial mediator in the iNOS regulation, other PKC isozymes may contribute LPS-stimulated iNOS expression. This finding is needed to be elucidated in further study.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2017

A sesquiterpene was purified from Artemisia iwayomogi methanolic extract during the course of searching anti-inflammatory principle from medicinal plants. A sesquiterpene identified as armefolin inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) and attenuated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein level in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 cells. Armefolin also down-regulated mRNA expressions of iNOS and pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-$1{\beta}$ and interleukin-6 in LPS-activated macrophages. Moreover, armefolin suppressed the degradation of inhibitory-${\kappa}B{\alpha}$ (I-${\kappa}B{\alpha}$) in LPS-activated macrophages. These data suggest that armefolin from A. iwayomogi can suppress the LPS-induced production of NO and the expression of iNOS gene through inhibiting the degradation of I-${\kappa}B{\alpha}$. Taken together, armefolin from A. iwayomogi might be a candidate as promising anti-inflammatory agent.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.759-762
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• 2012

Egg allergies have been reported as one of the most prevalent food hypersensitivities in the pediatric population. One of the major egg allergens is ovalbumin (OVA), which is the major protein in the egg whites. Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEIC) from cruciferous vegetables has an effect on anti-inflammatory therapy. In the present report, we show that PEIC inhibits the nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$) activation induced by OVA. PEIC also inhibits the OVA-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and nitrite production. However, PEIC did not suppress the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression induced by OVA. These results suggest that PEIC has the specific mechanism for anti-inflammatory responses and efficient anti-allergic activities.