Nitric oxide and inflammatory joint diseases

Inflammation of joints occurs as a result of injury or disease and imposes considerable suffering and economic loss. Despite the existence of numerous anti-inflammatory drugs, treatment of inflammatory joint conditions remains unsatisfactory, especially when the inflammation is chronic, as in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Evidence that nitric oxide (NO) is generated in inflamed joints has raised hopes of improving treatment by modulating the intra-articular activity of NO (reviewed in [1]).