nitric oxide

In mammals Nitric Oxide (NO) is an important cellular signaling molecule involved in many physiological and pathological processes. It is a powerful vasodilator with a short half-life of a few seconds in the blood. Low levels of nitric oxide production are important in protecting organs such as the liver from ischemic damage. Nitric oxide production is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is essential for hepatic lipid metabolism under starvation. Nitric oxide (INOmax) is indicated to improve oxygenation and reduce the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in term and near-term (>34 weeks gestation) neonates with hypoxic respiratory failure associated with clinical or echocardiographic evidence of pulmonary hypertension in conjunction with ventilatory support and other appropriate agents. Nitric oxide relaxes vascular smooth muscle by binding to the heme moiety of cytosolic guanylate cyclase, activating guanylate cyclase and increasing intracellular levels of cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate, which then leads to vasodilation. When inhaled, nitric oxide selectively dilates the pulmonary vasculature, and because of efficient scavenging by hemoglobin, has minimal effect on the systemic vasculature. INOmax appears to increase the partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) by dilating pulmonary vessels in better-ventilated areas of the lung, redistributing pulmonary blood flow away from lung regions with low ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) ratios toward regions with normal ratios. NO, can be generated in large quantities and has detrimental effects on the CNS. NO has been shown to increase permeability of the BBB, allowing substances to enter into the brain passively. Because of its importance in neuroscience, physiology, and immunology, NO was proclaimed "Molecule of the Year" in 1992. Research into its function led to the 1998 Nobel Prize for discovering the role of nitric oxide as a cardiovascular signaling molecule (Furchgott, Murad and Ignarro). — NCATS