Viagra uses nitric oxide to save newborn babies with breathing issues

Well, we already figured out that nitric oxide, which expands blood vessels, plays a big role in male erections. It's a component of some erectile dysfunction drugs. Now they've found that sildenafil (viagra) which releases nitric oxide can be used to help newborn infants with breathing problems.

Apparently nitric oxide gas has traditionally been used to help little ones breathe, and it's very expensive or simply not available. This is a dramatic discovery for babies in developing countries, which is where 90% of the babies in the world with this problem live, and where they cannot normally afford the gas. In one study babies who received sildenafil improved oxygenation and had a 92% survival rate--as opposed to 49% for babies receiving placebo.

The FDA hasn't approved this use for the drug. And researchers are calling for much more precise studies. But, at $5 to $10 a dose, we're talking an eminently affordable way to save lives within the first few days of those babies' lives.

Asthma inhalers: One small step against global warming

The FDA took a stand recently when it approved a new propellant for asthma inhalers. Up until the ruling, inhalers were made with propellants containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)--now known to be harmful to the Earth's ozone layer. The new chemical, HFA (hydrofluoroalkane), is considered safe for human ingestion but is much safer for the earth's environment.

AstraZeneca is currently recruiting for a clinical trial of one type of the HFA inhaler for people with asthma ages 18 to 65. The tests will measure among other things the amount of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) after each dose--a non-invasive way to gauge the need for changes in asthma medication.

The FDA move appears to signal a greater acceptance among government agencies of humankind's role in global warming. And Walmart has just introduced an HFA inhaler for $9--a lot cheaper than previous prices. Let's hope this is the start of real change at every level to reverse the trend toward depleting our earthly resources through irresponsible and profligate use.

Nanotech teams with nitric oxide to help diabetics, organ transplants

A product that can help people with medical problems from controlling diabetes to growing hair to preserving transplant organs? Snake oil, anyone?

Nope. A blue bandage made with synthetic nanoparticles promises just such wonders. Its secret? When you wet the bandage, the way the fibers degrade releases nitric oxide--a natural chemical that works wonders for people but that diabetics don't make enough of. Their invention takes advantage of earlier efforts with nanofiber bandages that help wounds heal faster by releasing nitric oxide.

The researchers will focus, among other things, on making materials such as socks or wraps to improve blood flow in the feet of patients with diabetes.

Nitric oxide speeds healing diabetic wounds in mice

One of our favorite multi-use substances, nitric oxide, is doing it again. This time it's being released to work its healing magic by a new substance called iroxanadine (now being put into the works to get approved for Phase II clinical trials). A report about the study appeared recently in a financial news source online.

Given that most treatments have focused on simply preventing infection rather than effecting healing, iroxanadine could represent a whole new way to look at treating the nearly-inevitable foot sores and other problems of diabetic patients. Like stem-cell therapy, a non-invasive method that mobilizes the body's own resources--like nitric oxide--to do the work they are fully capable of doing. The manufacturer, CytRx Corporation, says: iroxanadine promotes healing by normalizing endothelial dysfunction through the molecular chaperone amplification pathway, as well as releasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase from its negative regulator caveolin."

Seems these days scientists are regularly experiencing breakthroughs like this. What a great time to be in the bioscience field.

A few other posts about NO: wound healing with light, stored blood helper, fighting TB...oh, there are too many. Just use the search box in the left margin.

Exhaled nitric oxide real clue to symptoms in mitral stenosis

Patients with moderate to severe mitral stenosis (calcifiation of the mitral valve generally precipitated by an earlier case of rheumatic fever) experience varying levels of inhibition in their breathing and exercise abilities. But sometimes patients exhibit symptoms that are more severe than the level of stenosis indicated by a regular echocardiogram would warrant. In this study, researchers used cardiopulmonary exercise testing and measured exhaled nitric oxide to try to uncover reasons for the discrepancy. By measuring nitric oxide output both before and after exercise, they found nitric oxide has a significant role in regulating the tone of the patient's pulmonary cardiovascular system, and thus the pressure within the heart.

So if you have mitral stenosis and you feel worse than your doctor says you should, ask him/her about doing an exercise stress test. You don't want to submit to open-heart surgery unless it's absolutely called for--and this may be a way to tell.