[Regulation of nitric oxide on cerebral blood flow]

It has discovered recently that nitric oxide (NO) is an important activating factor to blood vessels. Nitric oxide activates the soluble guanylate cyclase in the vascular smooth muscle. It is clear that nitric oxide does not act only on systemic blood vessels under physiological conditions. However, in hypoxia and hypercapnia, there are many controversies about the regulation of nitric oxide on cerebral blood vessels. In this paper, we have reviewed the latest advances in this field.