Figure 1.

Experimental setup of the acute arginase model. Mice received an intraperitoneal injection with sterile saline or arginase combined with l-citrulline or l-arginine at time zero (t = 0 h). After 1 h (t = 1 h), mice received either spin-trap agents to measure the nitric oxide (NO) production in vivo or a sterile saline injection as placebo treatment. After 1.5 h (t = 1.5 h), side stream dark-field (SDF) imaging was used to quantify the microcirculation in the jejunal villi or organs were harvested to determine the formed iron-diethyldithiocarbamate (DETC) complexes as a parameter for the NO production in vivo. At the end of the experiment, blood and tissue samples were harvested for amino acid determination.