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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2003  > June  >
In the Classroom
Relevance of Chemical Kinetics for Medicine: The Case of Nitric Oxide
Alexandru T. Balaban and William Seitz
Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77553
Cover
June 2003
Vol. 80 No. 6
p. 662
Abstract
Nitric oxide, NO, is central to many physiological processes including regulation of blood pressure and nerve signal transmission. Enzymes in endothelial cells and in the brain of mammals continuously synthesize it—generally in low and carefully regulated concentrations. The well–known reaction of NO with oxygen to produce toxic nitrogen dioxide, NO2, has a rate which is bimolecular in NO. High concentrations of NO, as are found often in industrial plants or cigarettes, react rapidly with oxygen to produce toxic NO2. However, the half-life of NO at low NO concentrations as found in solutions and gases occurring in blood vessels, brains, and lungs is sufficiently long for biochemical purposes. Kinetics, then, determines the harmful versus helpful aspects of nitric oxide. At concentrations below 80 ppm NO is used in hospitals for lung vasodilation of preterm newborns and patients with pulmonary distress.
More Information
*  Citation
 Balaban, Alexandru T.; Seitz, William. J. Chem. Educ. 2003 80 662.
*  Keywords
 Biochemistry; Free Radicals; Gases; Kinetics; Medicinal Chemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 May 5, 2003
February 28, 2005
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