[Nitric oxide synthase in human intracardiac ganglia in the normal and ischemic myocardium]

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in human intracardiac ganglia was studied using two techniques--histochemical demonstration of NADPH-diaphorase and immunohistochemical staining for NOS. To detect the influence of coronary heart disease on NOS expression, hearts were studied in patients that died from heart failure (n = 8) and in persons that died in accidents (n = 3, control). It was found that human intracardiac neurons normally expressed mainly NOS1, and the proportion of these cells amounted to about 40%. A portion of neurons with low and moderate density of staining for NADPH-diaphorase was increased in ischemic myocardium, probably, due NOS2 induction.