Histochemical demonstration of nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivity in epiplexus cells and choroid epithelia in the lateral ventricles of postnatal rat brain induced by an intracerebral injection of lipopolysaccharide.

The present in vivo study showed the expression of nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivity in epiplexus cells in the lateral ventricles induced by intracerebral injection of lipopolysaccharide into postnatal rats. Nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivity was vigorously expressed in epiplexus cells 1 and 3 days after the lipopolysaccharide injection, but by 7 days post-injection, it became undetectable. The expression of nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivity was also observed in some of the choroid epithelial cells. The nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivity in these cells appeared to be more intense in the ventricle ipsilateral to the LPS injection than that on the contralateral side. The immunostaining patterns of OX-42 and OX-6 for the detection of complement type 3 receptors and major histocompatibility complex class II antigens respectively paralleled that of anti-nitric oxide synthase, indicating that lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivity was primarily in epiplexus cells. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that the nitric oxide synthase-like immunoprecipitate in epiplexus cells and choroid epithelial cells filled the entire cytoplasm and in some areas associated with the membranes of some of the organelles especially the mitochondria, suggesting that the enzyme is mainly cytosolic. It is speculated that nitric oxide synthase in these cells is involved in the synthesis of nitric oxide. The nitric oxide production, if any, through the enzymatic activity of nitric oxide synthase in epiplexus cells as well as the choroid epithelial cells may be involved in host defense against bacterial endotoxin in the ventricular system of postnatal rat brain.