Production of NO metabolites upon application of ACh and NMDA is blunted in ECM and can be partially recovered by BH4 supplementation.

<p>Total NO metabolites , depicted by sum of nitrite and nitrate levels, are normalized to pre-treatment baseline (represented by dashed line). A total of 7 uninfected and 4 ECM mice were each analyzed in ACh or NMDA study. ACh/NMDA superfusion in uninfected mice produced a significant increase in level from baseline (ACh: 1.9 µM→4.0 µM, NMDA: 2.0 µM→4.3 µM) which was significantly attenuated in the presence of L-NMMA. generation by ACh/NMDA application was significantly impaired in the ECM mice whereas BH4 supplementation partially restored production by a significant extent. *<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01. ⁺<i>P</i><0.05, ⁺⁺<i>P</i><0.01; level of significance compared to baseline. ^†<i>P</i><0.05, ^††<i>P</i><0.01; level of significance compared to treatments in uninfected mice.