[Lipopolysaccharide E. coli inhibits the arginine-vasotocin-induced increase of osmotic water permeability in the frog urinary bladder].

Since Gram-negative bacteria are known to be present in the cavity of urinary bladders in amphibian species, it was interesting to study the effect of bacterial endotoxins on epithelial signaling network which provides the arginine-vasotocin-induced increase of osmotic water permeability (OWP). The effect of LPS E. coli on AVT-induced OWP was studied in isolated frog Rana temporaria L. urinary bladder incubated during 20-21 hours in modified L-15 culture medium in sterile conditions. The LPS (25 microg/ml) was added into the mucosal solution. It was shown that exposure to LPS caused a strong suppression of the increase of OWP under AVT (0.5 nM), forskolin (35 microM) or IBMX (200 microM). Moreover, LPS induced more than 2-folds decrease both ofbasal and AVT-stimulated content of cAMP in the bladder tissue. The inhibitory effect of LPS on AVT-induced increase of OWP was eliminated in the presence of ODQ, 20 microM, a cytosolic guanylate cyclase inhibitor. With the use of RT-PCR it was shown that the expression of mRNA iNOS was 10-fold increased in 6 hours after LPS administration. These findings demonstrate the ability of frog bladder mucosal epithelial cells to recognize bacterial LPS and initiate antipathogen immune response related to increased production of nitric oxide. The activation of signal transduction cascade mediated by the LPS-induced immune response leads to a decrease of intracellular cAMP and down-regulates AVT-stimulated OWP acting at least in part through NO/cGMP-dependent signaling pathway.