Administration of a Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibitor Counteracts Prostaglandin F2-Induced Luteolysis in Cattle

The objective of this study was to determine whether nitric oxide (NO) is produced locally in the bovine corpus luteum (CL) and whether NO mediates prostaglandin F2(alpha) (PGF2(alpha))-induced regression of the bovine CL in vivo. The local production of NO was determined in early I, early II, mid, late, and regressed stages of CL by determining NADPH-d activity and the presence of inducible and endothelial NO synthase immunolabeling. To determine whether inhibition of NO production counteracts the PGF2(alpha)-induced regression of the CL, saline (10 ml/h; n = 10) or a nonselective NOS inhibitor (N(alpha)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester dihydrochloride [L-NAME]; 400 mg/h; n = 9) was infused for 2 h on Day 15 of the estrous cycle into the aorta abdominalis of Holstein/Polish Black and White heifers. After 30 min of infusion, saline or cloprostenol, an analogue of PGF2(alpha) (aPGF2(alpha); 100 µg) was injected into the aorta abdominalis of animals infused with saline or L-NAME. NADPH-diaphorase activity was present in bovine CL, with the highest activity at mid and late luteal stages (P < 0.05). Inducible and endothelial NO synthases were observed with the strongest immunolabeling in the late CL (P < 0.05). Injection of aPGF2(alpha) increased nitrite/nitrate concentrations (P < 0.01) and inhibited P4 secretion (P < 0.05) in heifers that were infused with saline. Infusion of L-NAME stimulated P4 secretion (P < 0.05) and concomitantly inhibited plasma concentrations of nitrite/nitrate (P < 0.05). Concentrations of P4 in heifers infused with L-NAME and injected with aPGF2(alpha) were higher (P < 0.05) than in animals injected only with aPGF2(alpha). The PGF2(alpha) analogue shortened the cycle length compared with that of saline (17.5 ± 0.22 days vs. 21.5 ± 0.65 days P < 0.05). LNAME blocked the luteolytic action of the aPGF2(alpha) (22.6 ± 1.07 days vs. 17.5 ± 0.22 days, P < 0.05). These results suggest that NO is produced in the bovine CL. NO inhibits luteal steroidogenesis and it may be one of the components of an autocrine/paracrine luteolytic cascade induced by PGF2(alpha).