There is evidence that genetic factors affect nitric oxide formation and that sequence variants in the nitric oxide synthase genes contribute to the observed variance of nitric oxide levels in exhaled air (fraction of expired nitric oxide, FENO) in subjects with asthma. We identified a strong association between a known functional NOS3 missense sequence variant in the endothelial nitric oxide g...

MRL-lpr/lpr mice spontaneously develop various manifestations of autoimmunity including an inflammatory arthropathy and immune complex glomerulonephritis. This study examines the role of nitric oxide, a molecule with proinflammatory actions, in the pathogenesis of MRL-lpr/lpr autoimmune disease. MRL-lpr/lpr mice excreted more urinary nitrite/nitrate (an in vivo marker of nitric oxide production...

Nitric oxide (NO) plays pivotal roles in controlling physiological functions, participates in pathophysiological intervention, and is involved in mechanisms underlying beneficial or untoward actions of therapeutic agents. Endogenous nitric oxide is formed by three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase: endothelial, neurogenic and inducible. The former two are constitutively present mainly in the en...

Nitric-oxide synthase, the enzyme responsible for mammalian nitric oxide generation, and cytochrome P450, the major enzymes involved in drug metabolism, share striking similarities. Therefore, it makes sense that cytochrome P450 drug mediated biotransformations might play an important role in the pharmacological modulation of nitric oxide synthase. In this work, we have undertaken an integrated...

(Ip) as the shift in holding current induced by ouabain. The synthetic 3 AR agonists BRL37344 and CL316,243 and the natural agonist norepinephrine increased Ip. Pump stimulation was insensitive to the 1/ 2 AR antagonist nadolol and the protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 but sensitive to the 3 AR antagonist L-748,337. Blockade of nitric oxide synthase abolished pump stimulation and an increase in f...

Plasma nitrite/nitrate levels reflect oxidation of formed nitric oxide (NO ) but are not indicative of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) function due to interference by dietary nitrates and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Nitrosyl hemoglobin (NOHb), a metabolic product of nitric oxide, may better correlate with bioavailable NO but it may depend on the activity of different nitric oxide sy...

BACKGROUND Fractional exhaled nitric oxide is elevated in allergen-provoked asthma. The cellular and molecular source of the elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide is, however, uncertain. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether fractional exhaled nitric oxide is associated with increased airway epithelial inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in allergen-provoked asthma. METHODS Fractional exha...

Nitric oxide is known to be a multifunctional physiological substance. Recently, it was suggested that nitric oxide is involved in p53-dependent response to many kinds of stress, such as heat shock and changes in cellular metabolism. To verify this hypothesis, we examined the effect of nitric oxide produced endogenously by heat-shocked cells on nonstressed cells using a human glioblastoma cell ...

Recent studies have indicated that nitric oxide may play a role in inhalation anaesthesia. Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase reduces the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) for inhalation anaesthetics and decreases cerebellar nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in rats. In this study, we have explored further the role of nitric oxide in isoflurane anaesthesia by examining the effects of a n...

The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the synthesis/release of hydroxyl radical accounts for impaired nitric oxide synthase-dependent dilatation of the basilar artery during diabetes mellitus. We measured the diameter of the basilar artery in vivo in nondiabetic and diabetic rats (streptozotocin, 50-60 mg/kg ip) in response to nitric oxide synthase-dependent agonists (acetylcho...