Background: Many of the physiologic derangements resulting in septic shock are caused by inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines produced in response to bacterial endotoxin or, more specifically, lipopolysaccharide. The recent development of a novel class of lipopolysaccharide antagonists offers the opportunity to block this response selectively. In this article we investigated the ability of one of these antagonists, B464 (Eisai), to block lipopolysaccharide-induced release of macrophage NO and cytokines.
Methods: The mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7 was grown in vitro and exposed to (1) media control, (2) B464 alone, (3) lipopolysaccharide alone, or (4) lipopolysaccharide plus graded concentrations of B464. Supernatants were assayed for nitrite plus nitrate, the stable end products of NO, as well as tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6. Total cellular RNA was examined for inducible NO synthase and interleukin-6 mRNA.
Results: Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated increases in NO, tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6 production were blocked by B464. Reduction of NO was also seen at the level of inducible NO synthase mRNA. Induction of interleukin-6 mRNA was also suppressed.
Conclusion: B464 is a novel potent specific antagonist of lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophage NO and cytokine production.