Modulation by nitric oxide of cerebral neutrophil accumulation after transient focal ischemia in rats

Abstract

A beneficial role of nitric oxide (NO) after cerebral ischemia has been previously attributed to its vascular effects. Recent data indicate a regulatory role for NO in initial leukocyte-endothelial interactions in the cerebral microcirculation under basal and ischemic conditions. In this study, the authors tested the hypothesis that endogenous NO production during and/or after transient focal cerebral ischemia can also be neuroprotective by limiting the process of neutrophil infiltration and its deleterious consequences. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 2 hours occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery and the left common carotid artery. The effect of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), an NO synthase inhibitor, was examined at 48 hours after ischemia on both infarct size and myeloperoxidase activity, an index of neutrophil infiltration, L-NAME given 5 minutes after the onset of ischemia increased the cortical infarct volume by 34% and increased cortical myeloperoxidase activity by 60%, whereas administration of L-NAME at 1, 7, and 22 hours of reperfusion had no effect. Such exacerbations of infarction and myeloperoxidase activity produced when L-NAME was given 5 minutes after the onset of ischemia were not observed in rats rendered neutropenic by vinblastine. These results suggest that after transient focal ischemia, early NO production exerts a neuroprotective effect by modulating neutrophil infiltration.