Nitric oxide produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase delays gastric emptying in lipopolysaccharide-treated rats

Endotoxin induces nitric oxide synthase (NOS), resulting in relaxation of gastric smooth muscle. The authors examined the effect of NO produced in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment on gastric emptying in rats, and they also examined the effects of a selective inhibitor of inducible NOS (iNOS), aminoguanidine, and a suppressor of iNOS gene expression, dexamethasone.

Male Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g were used. LPS-treated rats received LPS (0.2-10 mg/kg) diluted in physiologic saline intraperitoneally. Before and at different intervals up to 8 h after administration of LPS, measurements of gastric emptying were performed in groups of 3-5 rats, by determining the amount of phenol red remaining in the stomach 20 min after intragastric instillation. In additional group of LPS (2 mg/kg)-treated rats, the gastric fundus was isolated 6 h after administration, and the tension changes in response to L-arginine, a substrate for NOS, and electrical transmural stimulation (3 Hz, 5 s) were recorded isometrically.

(1) Gastric emptying was delayed by pretreatment with LPS in a dose- and time-dependent fashion (reduction from 68 +/- 12% to 22 +/- 7% with a dose of 2 mg/kg for 6 h). Aminoguanidine (50 mg/kg) or dexamethasone (5 mg/kg) partially inhibited the delay (to 39 +/- 4% or to 40 +/- 10%, respectively). (2) L-arginine (0.1 mM) produced a relaxation (28 +/- 2% reduction in active tension) in the gastric fundus strips isolated from LPS-treated rats but not from LPS-untreated rats. The relaxation was inhibited by aminoguanidine (1 mM). In contrast, the relaxation response to the electrical stimulation was not affected by aminoguanidine (0.1-1 mM).

The present study suggests that NO, probably produced by iNOS, is one of the factors involved in the delay of gastric emptying in the LPS-treated rats and probably in those with sepsis.