Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration in the rat produces a sepsis model of cholestasis which is directly associated with changes in the expression of several liver transporters.2) Among the various constitutively expressed influx (Ntcp, Oatp1, Oatp2, Oatp4, Oct1, Oat2, Oat3) and efflux transporters (Mrp2, Mrp3, Bsep, Mdr1a, Mdr1b) in rat liver, LPS down-regulates most of the influx and efflux transporters, but up-regulates some efflux transporters, including Mrp3 and Mdr1b. These changes are thought to represent a defense mechanism which protects the liver from the accumulation of endogenous compounds such as bile acid and bilirubin, as well as exogenous toxic compounds.With regard to mechanism, LPS induces the production of proinflammatory cytokines (cytokines), such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, interleukin (IL)-1b and IL-6 in Kupffer cells (KCs), and nitric oxide (NO) via the induction of NO synthase (iNOS) in KCs and hepatocytes. These cytokines are thought to be major mediators of the down-regulation of mRNA of transporters such as Ntcp, Oatp1, Oatp2, Mrp2, Mrp3, Bsep and Mdr1a, and of the up-regulation of Mdr1b. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Extensive studies of the molecular mechanisms of transporter regulation show that the LPS-induced downregulation of transporters is strongly affected by the preceding decrease in the quantity or function of nuclear transcription factors such as hepatocytes nuclear factors (HNF1a, HNF4a) and nuclear receptor heterodimers with retinoid X receptor (RXR)a (retinoic acid receptor (RAR))a, pregnane X receptor (PXR), farnesoid X receptor (FXR), constitutive ardrostane receptor (CAR)).
10)In contrast, relatively few studies have investigated the role of NO derived from iNOS in the regulation of hepatic transporters. Among studies to date, a regulatory role of NO on the mRNA of Oat2 was identified in in vivo experiments with LPS (1 mg/kg) and aminoguanidine (AG, 20 mg/kg, an iNOS inhibitor).11) On the contrary, AG (100 mg/kg) had no effect on LPS (4 mg/kg)-induced changes in rat liver transporter mRNA levels.2) Nevertheless, NO's effect in decreasing transcriptional activities of RXRa 12) and HNF4a 13) indicate its possible role as a mediator of transporter genes.Here, we investigated the role of iNOS-derived NO in the regulation of mRNA expression of rat liver transporters (Table 1; Ntcp, Oatp1, Oatp2, Oatp4, Oat2, Oat3, Oct1, Mrp2, Mrp3, Bsep, Mdr1a, Mdr1b) To determine the role of nitric oxide (NO) in rat liver transporter regulation, we investigated whether NO mediates lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced changes in transporters and their transcription factor expression using aminoguanidine (AG), an inhibitor of induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). We confirmed that LPS decreased mRNA levels for Ntcp, Oatp1, Oatp2, Oatp4, Oct1, Mrp2, Mdr1a and increased those for Mdr1b at 16 h after administration. AG attenuated these decreases for Ntcp, Oatp1 and Oatp4 (retinoid X receptor (RXR)a aand hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)4a a-dependent genes) and increase for Mdr1b (nuclear fact...