Temporal distribution of neuronal and inducible nitric oxide synthase and nitrotyrosine during colitis in rats

Nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease since increased NO production is observed in this disease. NO can react with superoxide to generate peroxynitrite which causes and/or exacerbates colitis. Peroxynitrite, in turn, nitrates tyrosine residues to form nitrotyrosine which can be identified immunohistochemically. We investigated the distribution of neuronal and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitrotyrosine over time in experimental colitis. Colitis was induced by intracolonic administration of trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) in rats. Animals were killed 1, 2, 7 and 14 days after treatment. Myeloperoxidase activity was used as an index of inflammation, and tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry. Neuronal NOS immunoreactivity was present throughout the colon, and was only slightly reduced 1 day after the induction of colitis. Conversely, iNOS immunoreactivity almost absent in controls dramatically increased in the mucosa and submucosa at the early stages of inflammation. iNOS was present in monocytes and macrophages and also another unidentified cell type. Seven and 14 days after the induction of colitis, iNOS was also found in nerves in the circular muscle and in the myenteric plexus. Nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity present in a few cells in the normal mucosa also increased 1 day after the induction of colitis and decreased thereafter. The pattern of distribution of nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity was distinct from that of iNOS. The increase of iNOS expression at the early stage of inflammation may play a role in causing tissue injury via peroxynitrite formation. The expression of iNOS seen in the enteric nerves in the later stage of inflammation correlates temporally with the beginning of tissue repair and with the re-innervation and compensatory growth of nerves. NO may potentially play a physiological as well as pathological role in experimental colitis.