Choi J J, Kim W K
Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Ewha Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
J Neurosci Res. 1998 Dec 15;54(6):870-5. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4547(19981215)54:6<870::AID-JNR15>3.0.CO;2-3.
Astrocytes play an essential role in the maintenance of normal neuronal function. Here we report that pretreatment of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) made murine astrocytes highly vulnerable to glucose deprivation-induced death. Neither 12-hr glucose deprivation nor 2-day treatment with IFN-gamma (100 U/ml) and LPS (1 microg/ml) altered the viability of astrocytes. However, significant death of IFN-gamma/LPS-treated astrocytes was observed after 4-hr glucose deprivation. This augmented death was mimicked by the nitric oxide releasing reagent 3-morpholinosydnonimine and was in part prevented by the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitroarginine. The data indicate that immunostimulated astrocytes can undergo suicidal death during glucose deprivation through the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase.
