Increased nitric oxide (NO) synthesis has been proposed to participate in the generation of insulin resistance in adipose and muscle tissues. Therefore, we examined the potential rate-limiting role of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) in cytokine-induced NO synthesis, and the effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) activation using the insulin-sensitizer rosiglitazone on cytokine-induced BH4 synthesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Our data indicate that modulated availability of the mandatory nitric oxide synthase (NOS) cofactor BH4 affected cytokine-induced NO generation. Semiquantitative linear range reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis demonstrated that rosiglitazone not only reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA transcription, but also guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase (GTPCH), the rate-limiting and controlling step of BH4 synthesis. Accordingly, intracellular BH4 concentration was reduced by 45% following rosiglitazone treatment. Furthermore, we observed a transient inhibitory effect of natural PPARgamma ligand 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PJ2) on cytokine-mediated iNOS and GTPCH induction. Thus, the inhibition of cytokine-induced NO synthesis by rosiglitazone is at least in part attributable to reduced availability of BH4, the synthesis of which might represent a potential new target in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.