Masseter inflammation differentially regulates three nitric oxide synthases in the rat trigeminal subnucleus caudalis

Objective m of the present study was to evaluate changes in expression levels of three nitric oxide synthases (NOSs), namely inducible NOS (iNOS), neuronal NOS (nNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS), in the subnucleus caudalis of the trigeminal sensory nuclear complex (Vc) under experimental myositis conditions. prague Dawley rats were injected with an inflammatory agent, complete Freundʹs adjuvant (CFA), or capsaicin in the masseter muscle. The brainstem region containing the Vc was extracted at both immediate (30 and 60 min) and longer (1, 3, 7 days) time points to examine the changes in the three NOS protein levels via the Western blot technique. Subsequently, the RT-PCR experiments were carried out to verify the changes in iNOS mRNA. s ing the injections of CFA, there were no significant changes in the level of the three NOS proteins at the immediate time points. However, there was a significant upregulation of iNOS mRNA and protein 3 days after CFA-induced inflammation. Neither nNOS nor eNOS showed significant changes in the protein level at any of the longer time points. Capsaicin injection in the masseter, which we recently reported to upregulate all three NOS at the immediate time points, did not result in significant changes at longer time points. sion and chronic muscle inflammation differentially modulates the expression of the three NOS in the Vc. These data suggest that the contribution of each NOS in craniofacial muscle pain processing under inflammatory conditions may be anticipated with distinct temporal profiles.