NOS2 and infection: Thereby, Epo inhibits pro-inflammatory immune effector pathways in macrophages via inhibition of NF-kB activation which results in reduced expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-12 by inflammatory macrophages and an impaired immune control of infections with bacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium (S. typhimurium; Nairz et al., 2011).