Kinetics of Nitrogen Oxide Production Following Experimental Thermal Injury inRats

摘要

Nitric oxide is biosynthesized from the amino acid l-arginine by the enzymenitric oxide synthase. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, a neurotransmitter, and may modulate immune function. The experiments presented here were performed to determine whether the synthesis of nitric oxide is increased following experimental burn injury in rats. After a 30% total body surface area burn in 300-g Lewis rats, the urinary output of nitrate, a stable metabolite of nitric oxide, was significantly increased for 8 days postburn compared with that in sham-burned control rats. The origin of the urinary nitrate from L-arginine was demonstrated by administering the stable isotope 15 N2-guanido-arginine to burned and sham-burned rats and observing an immediate enrichment of 15 N in nitrate.