Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Β-Funaltrexamine Inhibits Inducible Nitric-Oxide Synthase Expression In Human Astroglial Cells, Randall L. Davis, Daniel J. Buck, Neda Saffarian, Shekhar Mohan, Udaya Desilva, Samodha C. Fernando, Craig W. Stevens

Samodha C. Fernando Publications

The inducible isoform of nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) is involved in neuropathogenesis associated with infection and disease in the brain. Hence, there is considerable interest in the identification of therapeutic interventions to prevent iNOS-mediated pathology. Astroglia are a major site of iNOS expression during neuropathogenesis. To mimic a key component of neuroinflammation, human A172 astroglial cells were exposed in vitro to a cytokine mixture containing interferon γ, tumor necrosis factor α, and interleukin-1β, resulting in significant iNOS expression. Next, we assessed the effects of the mu opioid receptor antagonist, β-funaltrexamine (β-FNA), on cytokine induced iNOS expression in human astroglia. β-FNA dose-dependently …