Nitric oxide: A new concept in radiopharmacology.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in irradiation experiments according to the current literature, to describe the interrelationship between NO and X-, gamma and ultraviolet (UV)- irradiation as it appears to the various experimental models and make an effort for concluding the impact of this radical in radiotherapy.


METHODS
A literature search of Medline using the keywords nitric oxide, irradiation, radiation and radiotherapy covering the period from 1990 to 2002 was made. Representative publications were selected and analysed according to the type of the irradiation used in each paper.


RESULTS
A rapid and steady increase in the number of the publications which implicate NO and irradiation was found in the last 12 years. The results suggest a relative diversity of NO characteristics regarding its action in the various types of radiation.


CONCLUSIONS
NO seems to be implicated to the biological actions of ionising radiation. Although further experiments are needed for the elucidation of the precise role of NO, it is clear that its radioprotective or radiosensitising properties can be beneficially used for the development of radiopharmacology.
Hadjimichael
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Department of Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.