Nitric oxide and peroxynitrite production in ocular inflammation

Recent studies have implicated nitric oxide and peroxynitrite in the pathogenesis of many diseases, such as septic shock, arthritis, lung disease, and atherosclerosis. Nitric oxide (.NO) exerts many diverse effects on vascular tone, affecting neurotransmission and cellular cytotoxicity/communication. Our laboratory and others have documented a proinflammatory role for .NO in ocular inflammation. Uveitis, which is an inflammation of the highly vascular uveal tract in the eye, is a debilitating condition that can lead to visual impairment and blindness. It is characterized by acute, recurrent, or persistent inflammation with disruption of the blood-aqueous barrier and is accompanied by protein leakage and leukocyte infiltration into the aqueous humor and anterior chamber. Systemic injection of endotoxin into mice and rats, or intraocular injection of endotoxin into mice, rats, and rabbits induces acute uveitis, which clinically and histologically resembles acute anterior uveitis in humans. These models facilitate the study of pathogenic mechanisms that contribute to ocular inflammation. In addition to .NO, superoxide anion radicals (O2.-), and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), the products of the reaction between .NO and O2.-, are also implicated in uveitis. The role of peroxynitrite in ocular inflammation is still largely unknown. Characterization of the roles of these important uveitic mediators in the ocular inflammatory response will provide information critical to the understanding of the pathogenesis of intraocular inflammation so that more effective therapeutic intervention(s) can be developed.