Accepted 25 September 1996 Traditionally, the endothelium had been regarded simply as a passive barrier lining blood vessels. However, in 1980, Furchgott and Zawadski elegantly demonstrated that the endothelium was important in vascular relaxation by releasing an endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). 1 The precise identity ofEDRF remained elusive until 1987 when Palmer et al showed that E...

The endothelium has emerged as an important modulator of vascular tone by producing both vasodilating and vasoconstricting substances. In vitro studies have demonstrated that endothelial cells produce endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), which promotes vasodilation via the stimulation of intracellular guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP). However, the role of EDRF in the basal reg...

Nitric oxide was largely regarded as a toxic pollutant until 1987, when its biologic similarities to endothelium-derived relaxing factor were demonstrated.1 Subsequently, nitric oxide and endothelium-derived relaxing factor were considered a single entity, modulating vascular tone through the stimulated formation of cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (Fig. 1).2 Endogenous nitric oxide is form...

A large number and variety of compounds (acetylcholine, adenosine diphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, arachidonic acid, bradykinin, Ca2+ ionophores, calcitonin gene-related peptide, histamine, hydralazine, substance P, thrombin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide) have been shown to relax arterial smooth muscle indirectly. The endothelium in muscular arteries from several species appears to...

Background. Myocardial ischemia followed by reperfusion results in endothelial dysfunction characterized by a reduced release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). Because EDRF has been characterized as nitric oxide, we examined the ability of L-arginine, the substrate for nitric oxide synthesis, to protect in a feline model of myocardial ischemia plus reperfusion. Methods and Results....

General idea of this comprehensive review is to summarize information about the role of nitric oxide in the human body—cardiovascular, respiratory, urgenital, gut, NO and immune system, however, NO signaling has a role also in musculoskeletal system, even in bones. NO in the past had been recognized as a molecule relevant to air pollution. In 1980 Furchgott and Zawadzki identified new messenger...

The contribution of endothelium-linked mechanisms to the contraction induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) was investigated in the isolated human uterine artery. 5-HT contracted the uterine artery concentration-dependently. Removal of the endothelium or treatment with the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin potentiated the contractile response to 5-HT. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-N(...

Nitric oxide (NO) is generated from the conversion of L -arginine to L-citrulline by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which requires Ca/calmodulin, FAD, FMN, and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) as cofactors. Chemical studies in vitro demonstrated that the catalytic mechanisms of NOS involve flavin-mediated electron transport from a flavincontaining reductase domain to a heme-containing oxyge...