Brief ischemia was reported to protect retinal cells against injury induced by subsequent ischemia-reperfusion with de novo protein synthesis, and this phenomenon is known as late ischemic preconditioning. The aims of the present study were to determine whether nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was involved in the mechanism of late ischemic preconditioning in rat retina using pharmacological tools. Under anesthesia with pentobarbital sodium, male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 60 min of retinal ischemia by raising intraocular pressure to 130 mm Hg. Ischemic preconditioning was achieved by applying 5 min of ischemia 24 hrs before 60 min of ischemia. Retinal sections sliced into 5 microm thick were examined 7 days after ischemia. Additional groups of rats received NG-nitro-L-arginine and NG-monomethyl-L-arginin, non-selective NO synthase inhibitors, 7-nitroindazole, a neuronal NOS inhibitor, and aminoguanidine and L-N6-(1-iminoethyl) lysine, inducible NO synthase (iNOS) inhibitors before preconditioning, and were subjected to 60 min of ischemia. In the non-preconditioned group, cell loss in the ganglion cell layer and thinning of the inner plexiform and inner nuclear layer were observed 7 days after 60 min of ischemia. Ischemic preconditioning for 5 min completely protected against the histological damage induced by 60 min of ischemia applied 24 hrs thereafter. Treatment of rats with aminoguanidine and L-N6-(1-iminoethyl) lysine, but not NG-nitro-L-arginine, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine or 7-nitroindazole, wiped off the protective effect of ischemic preconditioning. The inhibitory effect of aminoguanidine was abolished by L-arginine, but not D-arginine. The results in the present study suggest that NO synthesized by iNOS is involved in the histological protection by late ischemic preconditioning in rat retina.