| [ Summary ] |
NO associated bowel diseases are classfied into the two major groups. One group is the neural NO synthase (nNOS) dependent diseases and the other is those that are inducible NO synthase (iNOS). In nNOS dependent diseases (Hirschsprung's disease, idiopathic chronic constipation, and diabetic gastointestinal dysfunction), small mounts of NO released from nNOS neurons in the gut play an important role. Hence, NO is thought to act as a neurotransmitter. In iNOS dependent diseases(ischemic colitis, radiation colitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease), NO generated by inflammatory cells, which contain iNOS, play a siginificant role. Large mounts of NO are at work here as free radicals has part of the process of inflammatory reactions. |