-Arginase is an enzyme that limits substrate L-arginine bioavailability for the production of nitric oxide by the nitric oxide synthases and produces L-ornithine, which is a precursor for collagen formation and tissue remodeling. We studied the pulmonary vascular effects of arginase inhibition in an established model of repeated systemic bleomycin sulfate administration in neonatal rats that results in pulmonary hypertension and lung injury mimicking the characteristics typical of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We report that arginase expression is increased in the lungs of bleomycin-exposed neonatal rats and that treatment with the arginase inhibitor amino-2-borono-6-hexanoic acid prevented the bleomycininduced development of pulmonary hypertension and deposition of collagen. Arginase inhibition resulted in increased L-arginine and L-arginine bioavailability and increased pulmonary nitric oxide production. Arginase inhibition also normalized the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, and reduced bleomycin-induced nitrative stress while having no effect on bleomycin-induced inflammation. Our data suggest that arginase is a promising target for therapeutic interventions in neonates aimed at preventing lung vascular remodeling and pulmonary hypertension. nitric oxide; oxidative stress; chronic lung disease ARGINASES METABOLIZE L-ARGININE to form L-ornithine and urea. L-Ornithine is the precursor for the production of polyamines and collagen, which have been implicated in tissue repair and remodeling, respectively. Arginases also regulate nitric oxide (NO) production by controlling substrate L-arginine availability for NO synthases (NOSs) (46). There is accumulating evidence that arginase activity contributes to the development of pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension (PHT) (9,14,25,29,32,63).PHT is a common complication of moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a chronic lung disease affecting extremely premature infants (6). The underlying pathogenesis of BPD is complex and multifactorial (39). Previous studies from our group have established a model of repeated systemic bleomycin injection in neonatal rats that results in lung injury mimicking characteristics typical of BPD. This model is a useful tool to help understand mechanisms contributing to lung development and remodeling (31) but also to study the effects of therapeutic interventions aimed at preventing lung parenchymal and vascular injury (31,50,56).The chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin sulfate causes a pulmonary inflammatory and fibrotic response in rodents when instilled as a single intratracheal dose (27) or by repeated intraperitoneal injection (3). Bleomycin-induced lung injury is characterized by induction of proinflammatory cytokines (18), influx of macrophages and other inflammatory cells (23), "emphysematous" lung morphology, and severe PHT (49, 60). Herein, we report that arginase expression is greatly increased in the lungs of bleomycin-exposed neonatal rats and that concomitant treatment with an arginase inhibitor, ami...