Nitric oxide. A general review about the different roles of this innocent radical.
Nitric oxide, a short half-life radical, is highly reactive, and it is involved in many biological processes, such as vascular homeostasis, neurotransmission, and inflammation, defined as a sequence of events which can be simplified as follows: vasodilatation, alteration of vascular permeability, emigration of leucocytes from vessels, migration of leucocytes into the sites of tissutal damages or inflammation, activation of leucocyte mechanisms. This review has a double purpose: 1) to provide a comprehensive table of cell types that produce NO, together with the effects of agents used to study iNOS regulation; 2) to investigate the role of NO in different human systems. The different relations between NO and cytokines, the heart, infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases, brain cells and, lastly, gastrointestinal diseases are examined.
Gentiloni Silveri
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Istituto di Medicina Interna e Geriatria, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Mazzone
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Portale
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Carbone
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D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000209:etiology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*
D009569:Nitric Oxide