Cytokine-induced venodilatation in humans in vivo: eNOS masquerading as iNOS

Objective: Venodilatation is a feature of endotoxaemia and sepsis. We have tested directly the hypothesis that three cytokines (IL-1 beta, TNF alpha and IL-6) generated during endotoxaemia affect venous tone in humans in vivo by increasing NO generation and explored whether the NO comes from the iNOS or eNOS isoform. Design and intervention: Cytokines were given into a superficial vein in very low doses sufficient only to produce changes in the study vessel. The effects of cytokines on the response to noradrenaline were examined. Results: IL-I beta increased basal NO-induced dilatation in the study vein, and this was sufficient to attenuate the constrictor response to exogenous noradrenaline or sympathetic stimulation. The effects were maximal at 6 h and both N-G-monomethyl-L-arginine and aminoguanidine caused significant reversal of the IL-I beta effects. However, no induction of iNOS mRNA was detected in the tissue samples. Instead, mRNA encoding eNOS and GTP cyclohydrolase-1 was detected in all vessels. Conclusion: The simplest explanation of these results is that IL-I beta induces expression of GTP cyclohydrolase-l which leads to increased generation of BH4 and activation of eNOS. This study identifies DL-I beta as a key cytokine causing physiologically significant venodilatation in humans by increasing NO generation and suggests that this can occur even in the absence of iNOS expression. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.