Nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate, GTN), originally manufactured by Alfred Nobel, has been used to treat angina and heart failure for over 130 years. However, the molecular mechanism of GTN biotransformation has remained a mystery and it is not well understood why "tolerance" (i.e., loss of clinical efficacy) manifests over time. Here we purify a nitrate reductase that specifically catalyzes t...

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) and its sequelae are leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate [GTN]) remains a first-line treatment for angina pectoris and acute MI. Nitroglycerin achieves its benefit by giving rise to nitric oxide (NO), which causes vasodilation and increases blood flow to the myocardium. However, continuous delivery of GTN resul...

High blood pressure (BP) is common in acute stroke and is independently associated with a poor outcome. Lowering BP might improve outcome if it did not adversely affect cerebral blood flow (CBF) or cerebral perfusion pressure. We investigated the effect of glyceryl trinitrate ([GTN] an NO donor) on quantitative CBF, BP, and cerebral perfusion pressure in patients with recent stroke. Eighteen pa...

early recognition of gestational trophoblastic neoplasm (gtn) will maximize the chances of cure with chemotherapy but some patients present with many different symptoms months or even years after the causative pregnancy making diagnosis difficult. clinicians should be aware of the possibility of gtn in any reproductive age woman with bizarre central nervous system, gastrointestinal, pulmonary s...

Intra-observer and inter-study reproducibility of brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and glyceryl trintrate (GTN)-mediated dilatation by CMR at 3Tesla were assessed. Coefficients of variation (CoV) were calculated using the root mean square method. The intra-observer CoV, assessed in 15 subjects, was 15% for both FMD and GTN response. The inter-study CoV, assessed in 17 subjects, wa...

An experimental model of headache offers unique possibilities to study the mechanisms responsible for head pain. Using the glyceryl trinitrate [GTN; nitric oxide (NO) donor] model of experimental headache, we studied the intensity, quality and time profile of headache after infusion of GTN in 16 patients with chronic tension-type headache and in 16 healthy controls. Subjects were randomized to ...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the sensitivity and tolerability of shortened, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)-potentiated, head-up tilt test (HUT) in patients older and younger than 65 with unexplained syncope and to compare the specificity of GTN-potentiated HUT (GTN-HUT) in older and younger controls. DESIGN Methodological study. SETTING Syncope units in secondary and tertiary hospitals. PARTICIPANTS...

We assessed the concentration of nitroglycerin (GTN) measured in plasma at different sampling sites in the circulation during a constant i.v. infusion. Twenty patients with chronic congestive cardiac failure underwent hemodynamic monitoring during i.v. GTN infusion. Our end point was a reduction in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure by at least 25% of its control value or a 10-fold increment ov...

BACKGROUND Chronic therapy with nitroglycerin (GTN) results in a rapid development of nitrate tolerance which is associated with an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). According to recent studies, mitochondrial ROS formation and oxidative inactivation of the organic nitrate bioactivating enzyme mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2) play an important role for the devel...

it has been proposed that organic nitrates such as glyceryl trinitrate (gtn), used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, act by producing nitric oxide (no). however, the biochemical pathway for no formation from gtn is not well understood. in the present study, we showed that nitrate formation from gtn, by isolated rat hepatocytes, was inhibited about 50% when cellular glutathione was de...