Butler A R
Bute Medical School, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland.
J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2006 Jun;36(2):185-9.
Although one group of drugs (including amyl nitrite and glyceryl tinitrate) has been used in the treatment of angina for over 100 years, the mode of action became clear only after the endothelium-derived relaxing factor had been identified as nitric oxide in 1987. Originally sodium nitrite was included in this group of drugs but it rapidly fell out of favour. Recently, however, interest in its therapeutic use has been revived. The medical uses of saltpetre (potassium nitrate) may be due to the presence of nitrite as an impurity.
尽管有一类药物（包括亚硝酸异戊酯和硝酸甘油）用于治疗心绞痛已有100多年，但直到1987年内皮源性舒张因子被确认为一氧化氮后，其作用方式才变得清晰。最初，亚硝酸钠也属于这类药物，但很快就失宠了。然而，最近人们对其治疗用途的兴趣又重新燃起。硝石（硝酸钾）的医学用途可能归因于其中作为杂质存在的亚硝酸盐。
