Are plasma S-nitrosothiol levels elevated in chronic renal failure?
Institute of Clinical Pharmacology Hannover Medical School Hannover Germany Email: tsikas.dimitros{at}mh-hannover.de’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–> Sir, The L-arginine/nitric oxide (NO) pathway actively and potently participates in the regulation of multiple vital biological functions including regulation of vascular tone. The status of the L-arginine/NO pathway can be characterized by determining the concentration in blood and/or urine of suitable members of the L-arginine/NO family, such as nitrite, nitrate and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA). On the basis of such measurements, there is increasing evidence that NO synthesis is decreased in chronic renal failure (CRF) [1]. Reduced NO synthesis in uraemia seems to be causing the highly elevated cardiovascular risk, and could also be responsible for the hypertension in this disease. The factors influencing NO availability in health and disease are largely unknown. Circulating S-nitrosoproteins, S-nitrosoalbumin being the most abundant, hav
