Nitric oxide (NO) is a major neurotransmitter associated with motor control in basal ganglia. Movement disorders, as essential tremor and Parkinson's disease, are more prevalent on aged individuals. We investigated the effects of aging on neuronal density and diameter/area of nitrergic neurons in samples of striatum (caudate and putamen) and subthalamic nucleus of 20 human brains from normal su...

BACKGROUND Numerous functional studies have shown that nitrergic neurotransmission plays a central role in peristalsis and sphincter relaxation throughout the gut and impaired nitrergic neurotransmission has been implicated in clinical disorders of all parts of the gut. However, the role of nitric oxide (NO) as a neurotransmitter continues to be controversial because: 1) the cellular site of pr...

Telokin phosphorylation by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase facilitates smooth muscle relaxation. In this study we examined the relaxation of gastric fundus smooth muscles from basal tone, or pre-contracted with KCl or carbachol (CCh), and the phosphorylation of telokin S13, myosin light chain (MLC) S19, MYPT1 T853, T696, and CPI-17 T38 in response to 8-Bromo-cGMP, the NO donor sodium nitrop...

The ionic basis of nitrergic "slow'" inhibitory junction potential (sIJP) is not fully understood. The purpose of the present study was to determine the nature and the role of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)-dependent ion conductance in nitrergic neurotransmission at the intestinal smooth muscle neuromuscular junction. Studies were performed in guinea pig ileum. The modified Tom...

Zhang Y, Carmichael SA, Wang XY, Huizinga JD, Paterson WG. Neurotransmission in lower esophageal sphincter of W/W mutant mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 298: G14–G24, 2010. First published October 22, 2009; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00266.2009.—To address the controversy surrounding the role of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in nitrergic neurotransmission to gastrointestinal smooth mus...

Gastroparesis is a debilitating disease predominantly affecting young women. Recently, dysregulation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in myenteric plexus neurons has been implicated for delayed solid gastric emptying/gastroparesis in diabetic patients. In this study, we have explored the role of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), a major cofactor for nNOS activity and NO synthesis in diabetic g...

To address the controversy surrounding the role of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in nitrergic neurotransmission to gastrointestinal smooth muscle, circular smooth muscle from the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) of W/W(v) wild-type and mutant (ICC-deficient) mice were studied by using intracellular and tension recordings in vitro. Resting membrane potential was more negative, and the sponta...

Introduction: Nitric Oxide is an important endogenous compound that acts as bronchodilator in trachea. Electromagnetic fields (EMF) affect nitric oxide level in different tissues. The interaction of nitrergic and cholinergic systems in airways has been reported. Therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate the interaction of cholinergic and nitrergic systems in the trachea of rats ...

OBJECTIVE Impaired gastric accommodation is reported in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). Previous findings in postinfectious patients with FD suggest that low-grade inflammation and dysfunction of nitrergic nerves play a role in impaired accommodation. To date, spontaneous animal models to study the relationship between these changes are lacking. We hypothesise that the normoglycaemic B...

The pulmonary vasculature is supplied by various neurochemically distinct types of nerve fibers, including sensory substance P-containing and autonomic noradrenergic, nitrergic, and cholinergic axons. Pharmacological experiments have suggested that various segments of the pulmonary vascular tree respond differently to the respective neuromediators. We, therefore aimed to determine histochemical...