Antoniu Sabina A
University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iaşi, Department of Internal Medicine-Pulmonary Disease, 30 Dr I Cihac Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania.
Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2010 May;11(5):543-9.
Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways, caused by various allergens and characterized by airway hyper-responsiveness to stimuli. Inflammatory responses have two phases: an early asthma response in which acute inflammation mediators, such as histamine, induce bronchospasm; and a late asthma response involving more chronic and complex local inflammation. Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenous mediator with bronchodilating and anti-inflammatory properties that is downregulated in asthma as a result of local inflammation. The augmented availability of NO in the lungs may represent a plausible approach for the treatment of asthma; however, the mechanisms leading to the decreased expression of this molecule have not been fully elucidated, and demonstration of the therapeutic effects of NO-enhancing compounds in asthma requires further research.
哮喘是一种气道炎症性疾病，由多种过敏原引起，其特征为气道对刺激的高反应性。炎症反应有两个阶段：早期哮喘反应，其中急性炎症介质如组胺会诱发支气管痉挛；以及晚期哮喘反应，涉及更慢性和复杂的局部炎症。一氧化氮（NO）是一种具有支气管扩张和抗炎特性的内源性介质，由于局部炎症，其在哮喘中表达下调。肺部NO可用性的增加可能是治疗哮喘的一种可行方法；然而，导致该分子表达降低的机制尚未完全阐明，证明NO增强化合物在哮喘中的治疗效果还需要进一步研究。
