What's the difference between nitrous oxide and nitric oxide?

January 30, 2012 at 2:53pm

I get this question a lot.  Thought I'd take the time to break it down in English (as opposed to chemistry talk, which still makes my head spin.) 

Nitric Oxide (NO) is NOT the same as Nitrous Oxide (N2O).

Nitric Oxide is one molecule of nitrogen, one of oxygen.

Nitrous Oxide has 2 molecules of nitrogen, and one of oxygen.

And that extra molecule of nitrogen changes the gas completely.

Nitrous Oxide (N2O) has been getting some press recently, since Demi Moore was hospitalized for inhaling canned Nitrous Oxide (in a form called "whippets") and having a seizure.  Nitrous oxide is used in aerosol cans, to propel whipped cream or cooking spray out of the bottle.

Nitrous Oxide (N20) is what they give you at the dentist's office, also called "laughing gas."  I had my wisdom teeth out on Nitrous Oxide, and it made me so loopy, I was laughing while the oral surgeon was sawing into my jawbone to remove my impacted wisdom teeth.  It's powerful stuff.  And should not be used recreationally.

What I started writing about and investigating for Jeff's health was nitric oxide.

Nitric Oxide (NO) is a tiny, 2 atom gas that is the hallmark of healthy vascular function.  It is the signaling factor that controls the body's vascular tone, and levels of inflammation, coagulation and oxidation.  It controls the endothelium, or the lining of all of our blood vessels.  It's good for you.

NO has been show to protect the heart, stimulate the brain, and kill bacteria, thus playing a pivotal role in a wide variety of diseases and conditions.

If the lining of our blood vessels become damaged and the NO levels become imbalanced, cells which should remain in the blood can leak through blood vessels and into adjacent body tissue. Some of the leaked cells can include proteins, such as the C-reactive protein, which is produced by the liver and causes inflammation. When NO in inhibited, endothelial signaling can become impaired, and disease may result. 

The Endothelial Health program discusses ways to enhance nitric oxide bioavailability in our bodies, and to maintain healthy immune systems and vascular systems.  This does not mean taking nitric oxide supplements....it means healthy living for healthy blood vessels.

Here's the program I created for Jeff, for those who may not have checked it out yet---

http://www.ccsvi.org/index.php/helping-myself/endothelial-health

Chemistry is important...one extra molecule can make a big difference!

Joan

Vascular inflammation in MS

January 24, 2012 at 11:42am

The Buffalo team has recently published a study on Lp-PLA2 levels in the blood of people with MS.

Lp-PLA2 is an enzyme that circulates in the blood and attaches to cholesterol in the blood stream.  It is an important marker of inflammation, just like C reactive protein.

Here's more information on Lp-PLA2

http://www.c-reactive-protein.com/103.htm

Lp-PLA2 is also an important marker in endothelial dysfunction.  This means that the lining of the blood vessels is breaking down and inflamed.

What the Buffalo researchers found is that this enzyme shows up in the blood of pwMS---and levels are significantly higher than in controls.

Lp-PLA2: Inflammatory Biomarker of Vascular Risk in Multiple Sclerosis.

A member of the A2 phospholipase superfamily, the enzyme lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), is involved in atherogenic processes. Lp-PLA2 mass and activity were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by a colorimetric method, respectively, and compared among 63 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 47 age-matched healthy controls (HCs). Lp-PLA2 plasma levels were significantly higher in MS patients (236.7 ± 10 ng/ml) compared to HCs (197.0 ± 7 ng/ml) (p = 0.003)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22246459

Here is a study of plasma levels of Lp-PLA2 in those with coronary disease and normals.  Lp-PLA2 is a marker of endothelial dysfunction. ( Note that pwMS had a 236.7 ng/ml level, and those with coronary arterial disease had a 246.2 ng/ml level.  Normals have around a 200 ng/ml level.)

Hypoxia reactivates latent EBV

January 22, 2012 at 10:06am

Perhaps researchers need to look more closely at hypoperfusion, or slowed cerebral blood flow, in MS.  Lower levels of oxygen can affect the brain in many ways.

There has been much made about the connection of the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and MS.  Most people carry the latent, or dormant version of this virus.  Nearly 95% of all adults carry the EBV virus.

A recent post mortem study showed reactivated EBV cells in active MS lesions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2118531/

In the seven MS patients' postmortem brain tissue studied, active MS lesions all contained Epstein-Barr virus infected cells.

Such cells weren't unique to MS, but were also detected in CNS tissue from two control patients with stroke, which the researchers pointed out is also a disease in which inflammation plays an important role.

Notably, Epstein-Barr virus-positive cells were present in much higher numbers in active MS lesions than expected in peripheral blood B cells, "which suggests that these cells are recruited to or accumulate in CNS infiltrates," Lünemann noted.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis/0103/latent-virus-sparks-inflammation-in-ms.aspx

What might reactivate this virus and cause it to replicate in the B cells?

Why were these cells also in the brains of stroke patients?  It's not just about inflammation or the immune system.

Hypoxia.  Lack of oxygen reactivates EBV infection.  The ischemic injury of slowed blood flow, caused be stroke or CCSVI,  could reactivate EBV cells.

EBV in latent infection can be activated to lytic infection by hypoxia treatment.

http://www.journalofclinicalvirology.com/article/S1386-6532(06)00244-7/abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC419879/

In fact, researchers have found a link between pwMS who smoke, and the levels of EBV antigens, or ENBA titers.