A New NO-Releasing Nanoformulation for the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronicand progressive disease which continues to carry an unacceptablyhigh mortality and morbidity. The nitric oxide (NO) pathwayhas been implicated in the pathophysiology and progressionof the disease. Its extremely short half-life and systemiceffects have hampered the clinical use of NO in PAH. In anattempt to circumvent these major limitations, we have developeda new NO-nanomedicine formulation. The formulationwas based on hydrogel-like polymeric composite NO-releasingnanoparticles (NO-RP). The kinetics of NO release fromthe NO-RP showed a peak at about 120 min followed by asustained release for over 8 h. The NO-RP did not affect theviability or inflammation responses of endothelial cells. TheNO-RP produced concentration-dependent relaxations of pulmonaryarteries in mice with PAH induced by hypoxia. Inconclusion, NO-RP drugs could considerably enhance thetherapeutic potential of NO therapy for PAH