Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in several processes in the skin, including wound healing, pigmentation and regulation of apoptosis. Pharmacological intervention with NO donors appears to be a promising treatment for conditions such as diabetic ulceration. In this issue of Clinical Science, Khan et al. describe the synthesis of a number of NO donors, based on nitrosylated thiosugars, structural c...

The roles of nitric oxide are primarily undefined in astrocytes, cells that are active partners in synaptic transmission. Because nitric oxide synthases are present in astrocytes, we imaged the formation of nitric oxide in cultured murine cortical astrocytes using DAF-FM (4-amino-5-methylamino-2',7'-difluorofluorescein diacetate). We demonstrated that physiological concentrations of ATP induced...

background: during the initial phase of an infection, there is an upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the macrophages for the production of nitric oxide. this is followed by the recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (neutrophils) which release arginase. arginase competes with inducible nitric oxide synthase for a common substrate l-arginine. objective: to investigate whethe...

Nitric oxide (NO) mediates multiple physiological and pathophysiological processes in the cardiovascular system. Pharmacological compounds that release NO have been useful tools for evaluating the pivotal role of NO in cardiovascular physiology and therapeutics. These agents constitute two broad classes of compounds, those that release NO or one of its redox congeners spontaneously and those th...

The biosynthesis and release of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandins (PGs) share a number of similarities. Two major forms of nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes have been identified to date. Under normal circumstances, the constitutive isoforms of these enzymes (constitutive NOS and COX-1) are found in virtually all organs. Their presence accounts for the regulation of...

Nitric oxide (NO) mediates multiple physiological and pathophysiological processes in the cardiovascular system. Pharmacological compounds that release NO have been useful tools for evaluating the pivotal role of NO in cardiovascular physiology and therapeutics. These agents constitute two broad classes of compounds, those that release NO or one of its redox congeners spontaneously and those th...

recent studies have established that sex hormones directly or indirectly affect t and b cells and macrophages by manipulating the production of cytokines. in this study the possibility of the effect of 5a-dht on macrophage (mφ) nitric oxide (no) release via interleukin-l, 6 (ll-1β, il-6) or tumor necrosis factor-a (tnfα) was investigated. the endogenous cytokines il-1β, il-6 and tnf-α were neut...