- © 2007 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
Nitric oxide has beneficial effects that go beyond vasodilation. An article about the role of inflammation in cardiac syndrome X, such as the recent CMAJ Analysis piece by Ramón Arroyo-Espliguero and Juan Kaski,1 should point out that nitric oxide has profound anti-inflammatory effects in endothelial cells.
In-vitro experiments with human aortic endothelial cells and in-vivo experiments with mice have shown that nitric oxide plays a key role in inhibiting the exocytosis of Weibel–Palade bodies, which are vascular mediators of inflammation, from endothelial cells. Patients in whom the synthesis of nitric oxide in endothelial cells is inadequate are at greater risk of vascular inflammation; this could be because of proinflammatory mechanisms such as leukocyte activation by Weibel–Palade bodies subsequent to decreased production of nitric oxide.2 A delicious way to boost the formation of nitric oxide in endothelial cells is by enjoying dark chocolate.3