Metabolism of agmatine in macrophages: modulation by lipopolysaccharide and inhibitory cytokines.

摘要: Agmatine is an amine derived from the decarboxylation of arginine by decarboxylase (ADC) and metabolized to putrescine agmatinase. While prevalent in bacteria plants, agmatine its metabolic enzymes have been recently identified mammalian tissues. In present study we sought determine: (a) whether macrophages (cell line RAW 264.7) express ADC agmatinase, (b) if are regulated lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and/or inhibitory cytokines transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), interleukin-10 (IL-10) interleukin-4 (IL-4). LPS induced a dose-dependent stimulation while it decreased ADC, effect both cases being maximum at 20 h. As expected, dose-dependently stimulated inducible nitric oxide synthase activity (iNOS). A strong correlation was observed between effects on agmatine-related iNOS. By contrast, exposure IL-10 TGF-beta caused reduction whereas IL-4 ineffective but reverted LPS-induced increase We conclude that pathway may be alternative route for macrophages, suggesting regulatory role during inflammation.