Change of Nitric Oxide Synthase in Different Brain Regions in Rats during Cerebral Ischemia and Reperfusion

Objective To study the change of nitric oxide synthase(NOS) in rat cerebral cortex,hippocampus,striatum and cerebellum during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Methods The activity of constitutive NOS(cNOS) and inducible NOS(iNOS) were measured with radioimmunoassay. Results The activity of cNOS in four regions significantly increased at 5 min,and decreased in cerebral cortex,hippocampus and striatum at 60 min,in cerebellum at 15 min. The activity of iNOS markerly increased in cerebral cortex and striatum at 15 min,in hippocampus and cerebellum at 10 min,and persisted to 60 min. After 30 min ischemia plus 15 min reperfusion,the activity of cNOS and iNOS in four regions significantly increased compared with 30 min ischemia(P0 05 or P0 01). Conclusion The activity of cNOS and iNOS were significantly higher in rat during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Using specific NOS inhibitors to suppress the activity of NOS may assist in the treatment for cerebral ischemia.\;