Fig. 3. Effects of isoflurane (Iso) and protein kinase C inhibition on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in microglial cells. The mouse C8-B4 microglial cells were incubated with 10 ng/m lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 10 U/ml interferon γ (IFNγ) for 24 h. Cells were exposed to 2% isoflurane for 1 h immediately [Iso(0 h)] ( A ), 8 h [Iso(8 h)] ( A ), or 2 h [Iso(2 h)] ( B ) after the initiation of the lipopolysaccharide and IFNγ stimulation. Chelerythrine chloride (Che, 2 μΜ) or bisindolylmaleimide IX (Bis IX, 10 μΜ) was present during isoflurane exposure. These cells and the cells that were not exposed to isoflurane or lipopolysaccharide plus IFNγ (normal culture) were harvested for Western blotting. Results are mean ± SD (n = 9 for A and 12 for B ). * P < 0.05 compared to lipopolysaccharide plus IFNγ only. ˆ P < 0.05 compared with isoflurane and lipopolysaccharide plus IFNγ.