Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article, I'll tell you more about nitric oxide.
Once upon a time, nitric oxide was considered an air pollutant that is produced when fuel is burned. Then, by the mid-80s of the last century, they found out that our body itself constantly produces nitric oxide. And without her in any way. We have already discussed this in the article about nitrates in beetroot juice. You can read the link below.
So, inside our lungs, nitric oxide also does a lot of useful things. It dilates blood vessels and bronchi, makes microscopic cilia on the surface of the respiratory tract sway in an organized manner and take out all sorts of filth and dirt.
Nitric oxide can be found in exhaled air, and its concentration there will differ between healthy and sick people.
Where does nitric oxide come from
When they began to study this business, they did not immediately understand where what was coming from. It was assumed that nitric oxide gets into the exhaled air from the paranasal sinuses, because there its level is off scale. It rolls over - this is more than 1000 ppb.
It should be noted here that the concentration of nitric oxide in exhaled air is measured in parts per billion (parts per billion) and reads as "pee-pee-bee"
Then the scientists guessed to take air samples with a special sensor directly from the bronchi and obtained reliable values for the concentration of nitric oxide.
Bronchial asthma
With bronchial asthma, nitric oxide in the exhaled air becomes more than in healthy people. It is not entirely clear whether this is useful for a sick person or not, but the fact remains.
Someone says that nitric oxide relaxes smooth muscles in the bronchial wall and has anti-inflammatory effects. Someone believes that nitric oxide can be converted into other nitrogen compounds that scald the bronchi and, on the contrary, provoke inflammation.
And here are eosinophils
We have already discussed eosinophils and the inflammation that they cause in two articles. Sometimes eosinophils are associated with allergies, and sometimes they provoke other types of inflammation in the bronchi. Bronchial asthma is very often associated with eosinophils.
Eosinophils release a lot of caustic chemicals that scorch the bronchi, burn out nerves and cause muscles in the bronchial wall to spasm.
All this disgrace is accompanied by the release of nitric oxide. It turns out that nitric oxide is a kind of marker of eosinophilic inflammation in the bronchi. And this most often happens precisely with bronchial asthma.
What are the options:
- If the level of nitric oxide in the exhaled air is below 25 ppb in an adult or below 20 ppb in a child under 12 years old, then we can assume that there is no eosinophilic inflammation in the bronchi.
- If the level of nitric oxide in the exhaled air is above 50 ppb in an adult or above 35 ppb in a child, then we can assume that there is eosinophilic inflammation in the airways.
- Intermediate metrics can mean anything. We'll have to think.
- If nitric oxide levels increase by 20%, or 25 ppb (20 ppb in a child), then the inflammation can be said to increase.
- If the nitric oxide level was above 50 ppb and then decreased by 20%, then the inflammation can be said to decrease.
- If the nitric oxide level was below 50 ppb and then decreased by 10 ppb, then the inflammation can be said to decrease.
- If an asthmatic person has nitric oxide levels above 50 ppb, then the person is not in control of their asthma, is not properly treated, or is cheating.
In fact, the level of nitric oxide in exhaled air can depend on age, gender, concomitant diseases, smoking. All of this is complex and there are no hard and fast standards. Even with a common cold, nitric oxide can jump and then drop to zero after three weeks. In any case, the analysis is interesting, and a lot is expected from it.
If you liked the article, then like it and subscribe to my channel. Check out my articles on related topics:
The tale of how nitrates from beets increase performance and reduce blood pressure
What to do if there are a lot of eosinophils in the blood
Eosinophils May Be More Harmful Than Infection
