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Biochemistry and Synthesis of NO in Sepsis

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Role of Nitric Oxide in Sepsis and ADRS

Part of the book series: Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine ((UICM,volume 24))

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Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO), although credited as being the smallest biologic product of mammalian cells, has generated a tidal wave of interest and investigation regarding its role as a fundamental intercellular messenger and mediator of such complex pathophysiologic conditions as sepsis. Going from relative obscurity, this molecule has become the focus of nearly 2000 publications per year, earning it the dubious title “molecule of the year” in 1992 by Science (Washington DC). Though nitrogen oxides were suggested to be synthetic products of mammalian cells as early as 1916 by Mitchell et al. [1], it was not until the 1980s that NO was considered to be more than a toxic atmospheric gas. The aim of this chapter will be to discuss the biochemistry and synthesis of NO, its regulation and the potential cytotoxic and cytoprotective roles in which it is involved during sepsis.

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Authors
  1. L. L. Shears
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  2. T. R. Billiar
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Hospital, 330 Brookline Avenue, 02215, Boston, MA, USA

    M. P. Fink

  2. Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Lariboisière University Hospital, 2 rue Ambroise Paré, 75475, Paris Cedex 10, France

    Didier Payen

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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Shears, L.L., Billiar, T.R. (1995). Biochemistry and Synthesis of NO in Sepsis. In: Fink, M.P., Payen, D. (eds) Role of Nitric Oxide in Sepsis and ADRS. Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, vol 24. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79920-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79920-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-79922-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-79920-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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