Progesterone has nongenomic effects on inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS),which is mediated by mitogen activated protein kinase(MAPK)pathways.This effect is supposed to have some potential association with asymptomatic gonococcal infections in women by immunological depression.In this study,polymorphonuclear leukocytes(PMNs)challenged by gonococci were used to study the nongenomic effects of progesterone.The activation of iNOS was assessed by measuring[3H]L-arginine converses to[3H]L-citruiline,and the activity of MAPK was detected by Western blot.It was found that the activity of iNOS and the yields of NO were enhanced significantly in gonococci-challenged PMNs compared with the controls(P