Distribution of nitric oxide synthase activity in arterioles and venules of rat and human intestine.

NO is produced within peripheral blood vessels through the action of the differentially distributed constitutive and inducible NO synthase isoforms in the vessel wall. As in other sites in the periphery, NO exerts local vasodilatory actions in the gastrointestinal microvasculature and is proposed to play a role in enteric vasomotor regulation. Using NO synthase histochemistry and endothelial cell immunohistochemistry, we provide the first anatomic evidence of NO synthesis in both endothelial and smooth muscle cells of submucosal blood vessels in the rat and human intestine. The findings of this study indicate that 1) as in the periphery, both the endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells of the microvessels irrigating the rat and human intestinal wall possess NO synthesis potential, 2) NO synthase activity is predominantly localized to discrete subcellular patches, and 3) the source of NO within the vascular wall, either intimal or medial, should be a consideration in future studies in terms of the relative contribution of these sources of vasomotor tone in the rat and human gut wall.