Abstract
We investigated the effect of type I IFNs (IFN-α and IFN-β) on IFN-γ-induced nitric oxide (NO) production by murine peritoneal macrophages. It was found that exogenous and also endogenous type I IFNs suppressed IFN-γ-induced NO production, cytosolic inducible NO synthase (iNOS) activity, and iNOS mRNA accumulation in macrophages. Furthermore, we show here that type I IFNs prevent the NO-mediated deterioration of mitochondrial respiratory activity in macrophages. These results seem to indicate a possible protective role of type I IFNs against the NO-mediated immunosuppressive and/or cytotoxic effect of macrophages.
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