Lethal Outcome of Uterine Infection in Pregnant but Not in Nonpregnant Rats and Increased Death Rate With Inhibition of Nitric Oxide
- 1 October 1997
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Reproductive Immunology
- Vol. 38 (4) , 309-312
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0897.1997.tb00521.x
Abstract
PROBLEM: Limited information is available on potential differences in sensitivity to urogenital infections between pregnant and nonpregnant hosts. METHOD OF STUDY: In this study, we evaluated Escherichia coli infectious complications in pregnant and nonpregnant rats and the effect of nitric oxide (NO) inhibitor, NG‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐NAME), on the outcome of an experimental uterine infection. RESULTS: Of the infected pregnant animals, 31% were found dead in 24–48 hr. The death rate was increased 2‐fold (66%) with l‐NAME treatment. No deaths occurred in nonpregnant animals with or without l‐NAME treatment. The rate of uterine infection in pregnant animals was about 10‐fold higher than in nonpregnant animals. CONCLUSION: We propose that infectious complications of pregnancy may be related to gestation‐dependent sensitivity to the pathogenic microorganism and the host NO status.Keywords
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