Nitrite/Nitrate responses to endotoxin in calves.

Plasma concentrations and urinary excretions of nitrite plus nitrate (NOx) increase in heifers after endotoxin-induced nitric oxide synthase activation. The rise can be enhanced by administration of arginine, the substrate for the production of nitric oxide, whose effects may be modified by the iron status. In 10-week-old veal calves (six Simmental x Red Holstein) arginine (0.5 g/kg body weight for 6 h) was intravenously infused. At 2 h after the start of the infusions Escherichia coli endotoxin O26:B6 (2 microg/kg body weight) was intravenously injected. This caused a rise of rectal temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and of urinary NOx excretion, but not of plasma NOx concentrations, in contrast to the experience with older cattle to which the same amounts of arginine were infused before and during endotoxin administration. In 8-week-old veal calves (18 Simmental x Red Holstein) the question of whether oral supplementation with arginine and iron modifies NOx responses to endotoxin (2 microg/kg) was also investigated. The calves were divided between three groups (GrA-, GirA+, GrC) and before endotoxin injections GrA- was fed 0.5 g arginine/kg for 4 days, GrA+ was fed 0.5 g arginine/kg for 4 days plus 80 mg iron/kg milk for 2 weeks, whereas GrC was not supplemented with arginine or iron. Iron supplementation increased plasma iron concentrations and arginine supplementation increased plasma arginine and urea concentrations and urinary urea excretion. Ensuing administration of endotoxin enhanced plasma tumour necrosis factor-alpha concentrations, rectal temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate, but not plasma NOx concentrations in GrC and GrA- and only transiently and slightly increased plasma NOx concentrations in GrA+ but did not affect urinary NOx excretions. In conclusion, the expected stimulation of NOx responses to endotoxin by intravenous arginine infusion appears to be much weaker in young veal calves than in older cattle. The NOx responses in young veal calves were not modified if arginine was orally administered and plasma NOx were barely enhanced by combined oral supplementation of arginine and iron.