T. Nagafuji et al., THE NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF A POTENT AND SELECTIVE INHIBITOR OF TYPE-I NOS (L-MIN) IN A RAT MODEL OF FOCAL CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA, NeuroReport, 6(11), 1995, pp. 1541-1545
OUR newly synthesized delta-(S-methylisothioureido)-L-norvaline (L-MIN
) was shown to have potent inhibitory effects on Ca2+-dependent and co
nstitutively expressed neuronal nitric oxide synthase (type I NOS) whe
n compared to other commonly recognized NOS inhibitors and produced an
IC50 value of 5.7 nM. By contrast, this compound exhibited more than
40-fold weaker inhibitory effects on the other NOS isoforms. Administr
ation of L-MIN (0.1, 0.3 and 1 mg kg(-1), i.p.) to rats immediately af
ter 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion and 2 h reperfusion reduced i
nfarct size in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that typ
e I NOS activation has a crucial role in the pathogenic cellular mecha
nisms underlying cerebral ischaemia.