NITRIC OXIDE IS A HIGHLY EFFICIENT ROS TRAP. POSSIBILITY OF CLINICAL USE FOR DIAGNOSTICS

Abstract

It has been shown that nitrite is normally present in most tissues at a concentration not exceeding 50 nM. But the tissues contain NO donor compounds in concentration dozens of micromoles. Consequently, there are mechanisms in the tissues that prevent the oxidation of NO to nitrite. The NO donor compounds do not spontaneously dissociate with the release of NO. The transformation of NO included in the composition of donor compounds to nitrite and non-thiolate nitroso compounds (NO2- + RNO) occurs under the action of active oxygen species (ROS) and, above all, superoxide that is produced by activated phagocytes. Thus, the content of NO2- + RNO is a very sensitive indicator of phagocyte activation, a process that accompanies any inflammation. In this paper, the possibility of using the NO2- + RNO content as indicator for the early diagnosis of inflammatory diseases is considered. It has been shown that this indicator has greater sensitivity and specificity than all known clinical and biochemical indicators. This makes it especially valuable for monitoring the state of patients in the hospital, monitoring the farm animals. The factor limiting the use of the NO2- + RNO indicator in diagnostics is the permeability of tissue barriers to these compounds. This is especially important for monitoring the condition of the fetus, as well as the state of the central nervous system.