Ileal Nitric Oxide Formation Is Altered in the Young Rat in Response to Endotoxin: Effects of Exposure to Alcohol In Utero

✍ Scribed by Norman W Weisbrodt; Mildred Lai; Zehava Gottesfeld

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 85 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0741-8329
• DOI: 10.1016/s0741-8329(98)00058-5

✦ Synopsis

WEISBRODT, N. W., M. LAI AND Z. GOTTESFELD. Ileal nitric oxide formation is altered in the young rat in response to endotoxin: Effects of exposure to alcohol in utero. ALCOHOL 17 (3) 247-251, 1999.-This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the activity and expression of iNOS in the ileum will be altered in young rats exposed to alcohol in utero (FAE). The subjects, 26-29-day-old rats, were progeny of dams fed an alcohol diet during gestation and their pair-fed/ control cohorts. We determined the effects of endotoxin administration on ileal iNOS enzymatic activity and on ileal iNOS immunoreactivity. The basal levels of the measured variables were not significantly different between the groups. In response to LPS, however, FAE animals responded with a greater increase in ileal iNOS activity and immunoreactivity. The findings indicate that ileal iNOS is augmented in response to immune signals, which may partly account for the altered gut functions associated with FAE.