RAPID
COMMUNICATION
Inhibitory
Effect of FK 506 and Cyclosporin A on Nitric
Oxide Production by LPS-Treated Cultured Rat
Macrophages
P. STŘEŠTÍKOVÁ1,3,
B. OTOVÁ2, M. FILIPEC3,
H. FARGHALI1
1Institute
of Pharmacology, 2Institute
of Biology and 3Department
of Ophthalmology, First Faculty of Medicine,
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Received
January 7, 2000
Accepted June 28, 2000
Summary
We
analyzed the effect of FK 506 on the production
of nitric oxide by macrophages. Isolated rat
peritoneal macrophages were cultured for 24 h
with or without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 µg/ml)
and in the absence or presence of FK 506 (0.1 and
1 µg/ml). The concentration of NO2- in culture
supernatants was taken as a measure of nitric
oxide production. FK 506 (0.1 and 1 µg/ml)
reduced the LPS-induced increase of NO2- levels
by 68 % and 81 %, respectively. The impact of
cyclosporin A (CsA) was studied in order to
compare their effects. CsA (0.1 and 1 µg/ml)
decreased the levels of nitrites by 39 % and 69
%, respectively. The results obtained suggest
that both immunosuppressive drugs exhibit a
dose-dependent inhibitory effect on nitric oxide
production and that FK 506 is a more potent agent
than CsA in this respect.
Key words
Nitric
oxide · NO inhibitor · Activated macrophages ·
FK 506 · Cyclosporin A
Reprint
requests
Dr. Petra Střeštíková, Institute of
Pharmacology, First Faculty of Medicine, Albertov
4, 128 00 Prague 2, Czech Republic. E-mail: pstres@lf1.cuni.cz
