Increased oxygen dissociation by nitric oxide from RBC

Acute dietary nitrate supplementation improves dry static apnea performance

Acute dietary nitrate (NO₃⁻) supplementation has been reported to lower resting blood pressure, reduce the oxygen (O₂) cost of sub-maximal exercise, and improve exercise tolerance. Given the proposed effects of NO₃⁻ on tissue oxygenation and metabolic rate, it is possible that NO₃⁻ supplementation might enhance the duration of resting apnea. If so, this might have important applications both in medicine and sport. We investigated the effects of acute NO₃⁻ supplementation on pre-apnea blood pressure, apneic duration, and the heart rate (HR) and arterial O₂ saturation (SaO₂) responses to sub-maximal and maximal apneas in twelve well-trained apnea divers. Subjects were assigned in a randomized, double blind, crossover design to receive 70 ml of beetroot juice (BR; containing ∼5.0 mmol of nitrate) and placebo juice (PL; ∼0.003 mmol of nitrate) treatments. At 2.5 h post-ingestion, the subjects completed a series of two 2-min (sub-maximal) static apneas separated by 3 min of rest, followed by a maximal effort apnea. Relative to PL, BR reduced resting mean arterial pressure by 2% (PL: 86±7 vs. BR: 84 ± 6 mmHg; P=0.04). The mean nadir for SaO₂ after the two sub-maximal apneas was 97.2±1.6% in PL and 98.5±0.9% in BR (P=0.03) while the reduction in HR from baseline was not significantly different between PL and BR. Importantly, BR increased maximal apneic duration by 11% (PL: 250 ± 58 vs. BR: 278±64s; P=0.04). In the longer maximal apneas in BR, the magnitude of the reductions in HR and SaO₂ were greater than in PL (P ≤ 0.05). The results suggest that acute dietary NO₃⁻ supplementation may increase apneic duration by reducing metabolic costs.

Erythropoietin activates nitric oxide synthase in murine erythrocytes

Erythropoietin (Epo) is the main regulator of erythrocyte production and a potent cytoprotective factor. It was suggested that some of Epo cytoprotective properties are due to its regulation of nitric oxide (NO) production. Recently, functionally active endothelial type NO synthase (eNOS) was discovered in mature murine and human red blood cells (RBC-eNOS). The goal of the present study was to characterize the effect of physiological and therapeutic doses of Epo on RBC-eNOS function. We found that recombinant human Epo (rHuEpo) binds specifically to mouse erythrocytes. Epo binding sites are not equally distributed through the RBC population but prevail in reticulocytes and young erythrocytes with about 105 receptors/cell, compared with adult and old erythrocytes containing 1-4 receptors/cell. The treatment of mouse erythrocytes with rHuEpo resulted in a time- and dose-dependent upregulation of NO production mediated via activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase /Akt pathway and RBC-eNOS phosphorylation at Ser-1177. Finally, when erythrocytes were incubated in L-arginine-free medium, rHuEpo treatment resulted in upregulation of superoxide radical production with concomitant shifting of the cellular redox state toward more oxidized state. Epo-induced changes in erythrocyte redox potential were absent in erythrocytes from eNOS-deficient mice.

Erythrocyte membrane fluidity and haemoglobin haemoporphyrin conformation: features revealed in patients with heart failure

This study examined the possible involvement of abnormal erythrocyte oxygen (O(2)) transport in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Haemoglobin (Hb) haemoporphyrin conformation was assessed by Raman spectroscopy (RS) of blood samples, whereas membrane fluidity was estimated at depths of 0.6-0.8 and 2.2nm by electron-paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of erythrocytes loaded with spin-labeled 5-doxylstearic acid and 16-doxylstearic acid, respectively. The fluidity of erythrocyte membranes from patients with heart failure was decreased in the area near the membrane surface and remained unchanged in the deeper hydrophobic membrane regions. The same differences were also detected in healthy controls subjected to chronic high-altitude hypoxia. RS demonstrated that in heart failure the total content of Hb-ligand complexes and the relative content of Hb-nitric oxide (NO) complexes with cleaved Fe(2+)-globin bond was decreased, whereas content of Hb-NO complexes with preserved Fe(2+)-globin bond was increased. We propose that this phenomenon contributes to the reduced O(2) tissue supply seen in patients with heart failure.

Elevated plasma viscosity in extreme hemodilution increases perivascular nitric oxide concentration and microvascular perfusion

We tested the hypothesis that high-viscosity (HV) plasma in extreme hemodilution causes wall shear stress to be greater than low-viscosity (LV) plasma, leading to enhanced production of nitric oxide (NO). The perivascular concentration of NO was measured in arterioles and venules and the tissue of the hamster chamber window model, subjected to acute extreme hemodilution, with a hematocrit (Hct) of 11% using Dextran 500 ( n = 6) or Dextran 70 ( n = 5) with final plasma viscosities of 1.99 ± 0.11 and 1.33 ± 0.04 cp, respectively. HV plasma significantly increased the periarteriolar, perivenular, and tissue NO concentration by 2.0, 1.9, and 1.4 times the control ( n = 7). The NO concentration with LV plasma was not statistically different from control. Arteriolar shear stress was significantly increased in HV plasma relative to LV plasma in arterioles but not in venules. Aortic endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) protein expression was increased with HV plasma but not with LV plasma. There was a weak correlation between perivascular NO concentration and the locally calculated shear stress induced by the procedures, when blood viscosity was corrected according to Hct values previously determined in studies of microvascular Hct distribution. The finding that the periarteriolar and venular NO concentration in HV plasma was the same although arteriolar shear stress was significantly greater than venular shear stress maybe be due to differences in vessel wall metabolism between arterioles and venules and the presence of NO transport through the blood stream in the microcirculation. Results support the concept that in extreme hemodilution HV plasma maintains functional capillary density through a NO-mediated vasodilatation.

S-nitrosylation in health and disease

S-nitrosylation is a ubiquitous redox-related modification of cysteine thiol by nitric oxide (NO), which transduces NO bioactivity. Accumulating evidence suggests that the products of S-nitrosylation, S-nitrosothiols (SNOs), play key roles in human health and disease. In this review, we focus on the reaction mechanisms underlying the biological responses mediated by SNOs. We emphasize reactions that can be identified with complex (patho)physiological responses, and that best rationalize the observed increase or decrease in specific classes of SNOs across a spectrum of disease states. Thus, changes in the levels of various SNOs depend on specific defects in both enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms of nitrosothiol formation, processing and degradation. An understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for the development of an integrated model of NO biology, and for effective treatment of diseases associated with dysregulation of NO homeostasis.

Haemoglobin: NO transporter, NO inactivator or NOne of the above?

The structural and functional characterization of haemoglobin (Hb) exceeds that of any other mammalian protein. Recently, the biological role attributed to Hb has been extended from the classical role in the transport and exchange of the respiratory gases O(2) and CO(2) to include a third gaseous molecule, nitric oxide (NO). It is postulated that Hb might be involved in the systemic transport and delivery of NO to tissues and in the facilitation of O(2) release. However, definitive evidence for these putative activities is yet to be produced and many questions remain. Here we describe the present status of these hypotheses and their strengths and weaknesses.