Human chorionic gonadotropin induces nitric oxide synthesis by murine microglia

This study investigated the effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) in murine neonatal microglial cells. When hCG was used in combination with interferon-γ (IFN-γ), there was a marked cooperative induction of NO synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. This increase in NO synthesis was reflected as an increased amount of iNOS protein. The increase of NO synthesis by IFN-γ-plus-hCG was associated with the increase of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) secretion and hCG-induced NO production was decreased by the treatment with anti-murine TNF-α neutralizing antibody. This study provides evidence that hCG activates expression of iNOS protein in murine microglial cells accompanied by NO accumulation via pathway dependent on l-arginine in the culture medium, and further offers that TNF-α acts on the NO synthesis from IFN-γ-primed murine microglial cells.