COMMENTARY
See article on page 334
Nitric oxide as an antimicrobial agent: does NO always mean NO?
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Nitric oxide (NO) synthesised from L-arginine subserves multiple physiological functions in the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and central and peripheral nervous systems.1 But synthesis of NO also contributes to host defence and seems to have cytostatic and cytotoxic effects against certain pathogens, and even against host cells themselves.1 How is this double act achieved? What determines the switch from physiological mediator to lethal gas and how is bacterial killing achieved?
The simple and standard answer to the dual action of NO is that its
effects depend on the amounts generated and the local concentrations
achieved. In the nanomolar concentrations generated by constitutive NO
synthase (NOS) isoforms, NO acts as a cell signalling molecule and
interacts preferentially with its physiological target enzymes
the
most significant of which seem to be soluble guanylyl cyclase and
possibly cytochrome C oxidase. At the higher concentrations generated
when the other enzymes become targets for
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