Nitric oxide and superoxide in inflammation and immune regulation.

Nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species exert multiple modulating effects on inflammation and play a key role in the regulation of immune responses. They affect virtually every step of the development of inflammation. Low concentrations of nitric oxide produced by constitutive and neuronal nitric oxide synthases inhibit adhesion molecule expression, cytokine and chemokine synthesis and leukocyte adhesion and transmigration. Large amounts of NO, generated primarily by iNOS can be toxic and pro-inflammatory. Actions of nitric oxide are however not dependent primarily on the enzymatic source, but rather on the cellular context, NO concentration (dependent on the distance from NO source) and initial priming…