Superoxide production in the vasculature of lipopolysaccharide-treated rats and pigs.

Sepsis is associated with increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS); however, the metabolic sources of increased ROS are not well understood. We hypothesized that the recently described nonphagocytic NAD(P)H oxidase system could be an important source of the ROS superoxide anion (O2-) during sepsis, and the interaction of O2- with nitric oxide (NO) may contribute to sepsis-induced vascular Injury. To evaluate this issue, we measured O2- production before and after treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats, who are Inducible NO synthase producers (NOSII) and in pigs, who do not produce NOSII.