History
Until the 1980s, nitric oxide, a product of fossil fuel combustion, was thought only to play a role the detrimental effects of air pollution on the respiratory tract. In 1987, experiments with coronary arteries showed that nitric oxide was the long sought endothelium-derived relaxing factor. After scientists realised that NO played a biological role, its role as a cell signalling molecule and neurotransmitter became clear from abundant studies.
NO was first detected in exhaled breath samples in 1991. In 1992, NO was voted molecule of the year by the scientific journal Science. In 1993, researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden were the first to report increased eNO in asthmatics.
Today, NO is not only used in breath tests but also as a therapeutic agent for conditions such as pulmonary arterial hypertension and possibly for the acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Read more about this topic: Exhaled Nitric Oxide
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
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—Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)