Content of GFAP in the Brain of BALB/C Mice with the Antiphospholipid Syndrome: Effects of L-Arginine and Aminoguanidine

We investigated the influence of the nitric oxide precursor L-arginine and selective inhibitor of inducible NOS aminoguanidine on the content of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres of BALB/c mice with the experimental antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). In the APS, the total amount of GFAP and amount of its component GFAP 49-37 kDa in the cerebellum were 280 and 640%, as compared with the control, while the respective figures in the cerebral cortex were 118% and 155%. Injections of L-arginine led to a further increase in the GFAP content in the cerebellum of animals with the APS. Administration of aminoguanidine alone and of aminoguanidine together with L-arginine provided decreases in the GFAP content in the cerebellum of APS mice. Aminoguanidine also reduced the GFAP content in the cerebral hemispheres in APS animals. The increased GFAP content in the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres in mice with the APS is indicative of the development of reactive astrogliosis. Changes in the NO synthesis due to introduction of its modulators significantly affect the GFAP content in the above brain regions in animals with the APS. These facts indirectly confirm the role of NO in the regulation of the GFAP expression in astrocytes under conditions of this pathology. The presence of GFAP 49-37 kDa (mainly in the cerebellum) in BALB/c mice with APS appears to be a sign of proteolytic degradation of GFAP, suggesting alterations in the astrocyte cytoskeleton (intermediate filaments) in the respective brain regions.