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Updated: May 10, 2026

Chemiluminescence-based Assays for Detection of Nitric Oxide and its Derivatives from Autoxidation and Nitrosated Compounds
Published on: February 16, 2022
A novel spectrophotometric method for indirect determination of nitric oxide (NO) in serum
Da Wo1, Ping Zhuang, Zeng-guang Xu
1Department of Central Laboratory, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, PR China.
Background:
It is essential in clinical medicine to develop a simple and accurate analytical method for detecting nitric oxide (NO) in blood or other body fluid. In order to overcome the shortcomings of previous methods, this experiment developed a novel indirect analytical method of NO in serum.
Methods:
After nitrate was reduced by copper-coated cadmium granules, the nitrite produced was determined by diazotization of fuchsin acid and coupling to resorcinol. The maximum absorption appeared at 436 nm, with which the concentration of NO can be determined indirectly.
Results:
NO concentration and absorbance were linearly correlated over the concentration ranging from 0 to 198 μmol/l, r=0.999. The CVs were 7.16% for within-run and 9.07% for between-run assays, respectively. The average recovery rate ranged from 90.6% to 105.2%. The mean concentration of NO3(-)/NO2(-) was 59.2±17.0 μmol/l in serum of 30 normal volunteers. The serum concentration of NO3(-)/NO2(-) decreased significantly in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) compared to the normal volunteers, P<0.05.
Conclusions:
This method offers a reliable, simple, reagent safe and inexpensive analytical platform for the determination of NO in serum. Using this approach, we determined that the synthesis of endogenous NO decreased in patients with CHF.
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