We tested whether
nitric oxide (NO) could synergize with
hypoxia to induce damage to the aorta isolated from rat. We found that 4 h of mild
hypoxia (5% O2) caused substantial
necrosis of isolated rat aortae (measured as
lactate dehydrogenase release) if inducible
NO synthase (iNOS) had previously been induced by
endotoxin plus
interferon-gamma. Mild
hypoxia caused no significant
necrosis in the absence of this inflammatory activation, and inflammatory activation caused little damage at a higher
oxygen levels (21%
oxygen). An iNOS inhibitor (1400W) prevented the
necrosis induced by
inflammation plus mild
hypoxia, whereas the NO donor
diethylenetriamine (
DETA)/NO adduct, 0.5 mM) greatly sensitized the noninflammed aorta to
necrosis induced by mild
hypoxia. NO inhibited aortic respiration to a greater degree at lower
oxygen concentrations, consistent with NO inhibition of
cytochrome oxidase in competition with
oxygen. A specific inhibitor of mitochondrial respiration,
myxothiazol, caused
necrosis of aortae over a similar time course to NO.
DETA/NO plus mild
hypoxia-induced cell death was substantially reduced by a glycolytic intermediate 3-phosphoglycerate, suggesting that
necrosis resulted from energy depletion secondary to respiratory inhibition. This NO-induced sensitization of aorta to mild
hypoxia may be important in
sepsis and other pathologies where iNOS is expressed.