Elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO2-/NO3-) were detected in the serum of mice 3-7 days after priming with Corynebacterium parvum (Propionibacterium acnes). The serum NO2-/NO3- response was completely inhibited when C. parvum-primed (C. parrum) mice were treated with N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) or aminoguanidine (AG) on days 6 and 7 post priming. The response was also inhibited when the mice were treated with interleukin-10 (IL-10) and the cytokine was most effective when given in multiple doses beginning on the day of priming. In contrast to L-NMMA and AG, IL-10 had no effect on the serum NO2-/NO3- response when administered to the mice on days 6 and 7 post priming. The inducible isoform of NOS (iNOS) appeared to be responsible for the elevated NO2-/NO3- response in C. parvum mice because iNOS transcripts were readily detected in their livers. Moreover, these transcripts as well as the circulating levels of NO2-/NO3- were dramatically reduced when the mice were treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF-alpha) or anti-interferon-gamma (anti-IFN-gamma) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) during the priming interval. There was a modest increase (less than twofold) in the serum NO2-/NO3- response following a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge to C. parvum mice (C. parvum/LPS mice). LPS had a more dramatic stimulatory effect if the levels of NO2-/NO3- preexisting in C. parvum/LPS mice were reduced by treatment with L-NMMA, AG, or IL-10 before the challenge. Thus the levels of NO2-/NO3- that preexisted in C. parvum/LPS mice appeared to influence their ability to mount a NO2-/NO3- response subsequent to the LPS challenge. The NO2-/NO3- response did not contribute to lethality in C. parvum/LPS mice because anti-TNF-alpha and anti-IFN-gamma mAbs were protective but had no effect on serum NO2-/NO3- levels when administered to mice 24 h before the LPS challenge.