Potential Roles for NO in Neurological Disorders

NO may play a role in neurodegenerative disorders and other forms of neurotoxicity. NO is an important mediator in central nervous system oxygen toxicity, since inhibitors of NOS protect mice against this toxicity (Oury et al., 1992). NO may play a role in the pathogenesis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) dementia, as the neurotoxicity in primary cortical cultures induced by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coat protein, glycoprotein 120 (Lipton, 1992), is due, in part, to activation of NOS (V. 

NO has clearly revolutionized our thinking about aspects of neurotransmission and neuronal signaling. It has also radically altered our thoughts about how synaptic transmission takes place. NO is emerging as an important regulator of a variety of physiological processes however, under certain conditions of excessive formation, NO is emerging as an important mediator 

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and Snyder, S. H. (1990). Isolation of nitric oxide synthetase, a calmodulin-requiring enzyme. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 682-685. 

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