Nitric oxide: a newly discovered function on wound healing.
Wound healing impairment represents a particularly challenging clinical problem to which no efficacious treatment regimens currently exist. The factors ensuring appropriate intercellular communication during wound repair are not completely understood. Although protein-type mediators are well-established players in this process, emerging evidence from both animal and human studies indicates that nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role in wound repair. The beneficial effects of NO on wound repair may be attributed to its functional influences on angiogenesis, inflammation, cell proliferation, matrix deposition, and remodeling. Recent findings from in vitro and in vivo studies of NO on wound repair are summarized in this review. The unveiled novel mechanisms support the use of NO-containing agents and/or NO synthase gene therapy as new therapeutic regimens for impaired wound healing.
Luo
Jian-dong
JD
Departments of Pharmacology and Neurology and the Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1317, USA.
Chen
Alex F
AF
D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy
D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase