Monitoring of Serum Nitric oxide in Patients with Acute Leukemia

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is a molecule required for many physiological functions, produced from L-arginine by NO synthases (NOS). It is a free radical, producing many reactive intermediates that account for its bioactivity. Sustained induction of the inducible form of NOS (iNOS) in chronic inflammation may be mutagenic, through NO-mediated DNA damage or hindrance to DNA repair, and thus potentially carcinogenic. Due to the short half-life of NO, usually its end products (nitrate or nitrite) are measured as an index of NO production. There is evidence that expression of iNOS in tumor cells, including acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia increased. In this study, the levels of nitrate and nitrite (nitric oxide products) in the serum of patients with acute leukemia were determined.