Effects of NOS Inhibitors on Arthritis and Arthritic Pain in Rats.
- Author:
Sun Seek MIN
1
Author Information
1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine, Eulji University, Daejeon 301-832, Korea. ssmin@eulji.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Nitric oxide (NO);
Arthritis;
Arthritic pain;
Nitric oxide syntase (NOS)
- MeSH:
Animals;
Arthritis*;
Carrageenan;
Chronic Pain;
Humans;
Inflammation;
Injections, Intra-Articular;
Knee Joint;
Leg;
Nitric Oxide;
Nitric Oxide Synthase;
Rats*;
Spinal Cord;
Synovial Membrane
- From:The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
2007;11(6):253-257
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Among the arthritis symptoms, chronic pain is the most serious, and it can profoundly affect the quality of human life. Unfortunately, the mechanism of development in arthritis and arthritic pain has not yet been precisely elucidated. Accumulating evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) plays a pivotal role in nociceptive processing in the spinal cord. However, the modulation mechanism of NO in the peripheral site of arthritis and arthritic pain has not been clarified. Therefore, I determined in the present study which nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was involved in the induction of arthritis and arthritic pain. Monoarthritis was induced by intra-articular injection of carrageenan (2%, 50 microliter) into rats, and resulted in the reduction of weight load on the injected leg, increase of knee joint diameter and inflammatory response. Pre-treatment of rats with L-N6-(1-iminoethyl)-lysine (L-NIL, 500 microgram, in 50 microliter), an inhibitor of inducible NOS (iNOS), partially prevented the induction of pain-related behavior and partially reduced inflammatory response in the synovial membrane in the knee joint. These results suggest that iNOS in the knee joint may play an important role in the induction of pain-related behavior and inflammation, and that NO produced by iNOS may be associated with nociceptive signaling in the peripheral site.
