THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES FOR THE INHIBITION OF INDUCIBLE NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE—POTENTIAL FOR A NOVEL CLASS OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENTS

✍ Scribed by JOSEF PFEILSCHIFTER; WOLFGANG EBERHARDT; RICHARD HUMMEL; DIETER KUNZ; HEIKO MÜHL; DOROTHEA NITSCH; CHRISTOPH PLÜSS; GABY WALKER

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 215 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1065-6995
• DOI: 10.1006/cbir.1996.0008

✦ Synopsis

In recent years, NO, a gas previously considered a potentially toxic chemical, has become established as a diffusible universal messenger mediating cell-cell communication throughout the body. In mammals, NO is a recognized mediator of blood vessel relaxation that helps to maintain blood pressure. In the central nervous system NO acts as a non-conventional neurotransmitter and participates in the establishment of long-term plasticity required for memory formation. In addition, NO is responsible for some parts of the host response to sepsis and inflammation and contributes to certain disease states. A number of strategies have emerged with regard to a pharmacological control of pathological NO overproductions. This review will discuss these novel therapeutic approaches that may provide new means for clinical medicine.