The role of nitric oxide or its metabolites in the development of asbestos induced mesothelioma

Abstract

Asbestos exposure can lead to the development of malignant mesothelioma (MM) that is a fatal disease, which develops insidiously mainly after higher than background asbestos exposure. Nitric oxide (NO) production or NO synthase (NOS) expression was demonstrated in response to asbestos exposure and in the process of mesothelioma development in animal models and human subjects. NO is an important mediator and can be produced by three kinds of isoform of NOS enzymes. The role of NOS expression in mesothelioma development is still not clear. Since inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) are both strongly expressed in human malignant mesothelioma, there might be a functional link between iNOS and eNOS. A number of inhibitors of NOS have already been widely used in animal studies. The inhibitors can inhibit the activity of NOS either selectively or indiscriminately. This review suggests that utilisation of different NOS inhibitors may provide valuable information to reveal the underlying mechanism of MM development.