Increase in nitric oxide in the hypoxic-ischemic neonatal rat brain and suppression by 7-nitroindazole and aminoguanidine

We measured the changes in nitric oxide (NO) metabolites in the brains of neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic damage. There were two peaks of NO metabolites in the lesioned side of the cortex without treatment: one during hypoxia and the other during the re-oxygenation period. Prehypoxic treatment with 7-nitroindazole, a selective neuronal NO synthase inhibitor, suppressed both peaks of NO metabolites, whereas prehypoxic treatment with aminoguanidine, a selective inducible NO synthase inhibitor, partially suppressed only the peak in the re-oxygenation period. These data suggest different roles of neuronal and inducible NO synthases in the pathogenesis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.