Excessive production of nitric oxide induces the neuronal cell death in lipopolysaccharide-treated rat hippocampal slice culture.

In this study, we investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO) in neuronal cell death in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated rat hippocampal slice culture. Neuronal cell death was induced after a LPS treatment in a rat hippocampal slice. The region and time course of the cell death caused by LPS were different from those by N-methyl-D-aspartate. Cell death was inhibited when the slice was co-treated with both LPS and N-monomethyl-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor. On the other hand, sodium nitroprusside, a NO donor, induced cell death significantly. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western analysis showed that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was induced in the LPS-treated hippocampal slice culture. These results suggest that NO produced by iNOS is a major mediator of cell death in LPS-treated hippocampal slice culture.