[The significance of nitric oxide in nociception and spinal pain processing]

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to be involved in the generation and processing of pain signals. Most experimental studies on animals and also the few observations in humans point to an involvement of the NO-system in inflammatory pain, whereas acute pain and chronic pain without inflammatory component seem to be independent of NO. It is yet unknown whether specific inhibition of the NO pathway is useful for treatment or prevention of inflammatory pain in humans.