Page 191 - The Miracle of Hormones

hat do air pollution, a Nobel Prize and a
hormone have in common? The answer
W is "nitric oxide." In chemistry textbooks,
nitric oxide is defined as a colorless, poisonous gas
that comes into being by the oxygenation of nitrogen.
It is a "simple" molecule shown by the chemical for-
mula, "NO" (it is a molecule made up of one nitrogen
atom and one oxygen atom). Both nitrogen and oxy-
gen are familiar elements. One of the first things we
learn in high school is that the air we breathe is com-
posed of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.
When we say nitric oxide is "simple," we only
refer to the simplicity of its chemical composition.
With regard to its importance to human life, intense
research over the past twenty years has shown that
this molecule performs a basic function in communi-
cation among cells. The result of scientific work in
this field has revealed that nitric oxide is a hormone
produced naturally in the human body. It is a chemi-
cal messenger that plays a strategic role in the regu-
lation of the vital functioning of the nervous system,
circulatory system, immune system, respiratory sys-
tem and reproductive system.
Poisonous nitric oxide is a gas that causes air
pollution and acid rain, destroys the ozone layer
and the ecological environment. This gas is pro-
duced by the burning of nitrogen and is found in
great quantities in car exhaust. Until recently,
only this aspect of NO was known. It was be-
lieved that, apart from its threat to human
health, it had no function. Even the discovery
by research that the NO was a hormone was