– a discovery by the co-founders of Aerocrine
Nitrix oxide (NO) is produced in the epithelial cells of the bronchial wall as part of the inflammatory process. NO production increases when there is an eosinophilic airway inflammation (Van den Toorn 2001, Payne 2001) .
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| Normal epithelial cells release a minimum amount of NO. |
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Activated epithelial cells during inflammation demonstrate increased production of NO. |
The presence of endogenous NO in exhaled air was first reported in 1991 by Gustafsson et al. and in 1993 Alving et al. found that NO in exhaledair was elevated in patients with asthma. Based on their original findings Gustafsson and Alving were two of the co- founders of Aerocrine.
Since that time research has been directed at uncovering the role that NO plays in airway inflammation.
Today a substantial amount of data exists to confirm the clinical value of exhaled NO measurement. More than 1500 publications in peerreviewed journals establish NO as the most effective marker of airway inflammation.