Heikki Savolainen, Dept. of Occup. Safety & Hlth., Tampere, Finland
28 July 2009
Dear Editor,
The authors rightly point out the central role of macrophages in the severe meningitis. They are also the important source of NO associated classically with the dilatation of blood vessels at 4-20 nM concentrations. Larger, 100-340 nM nitrogen oxide concentrations compete with oxygen at the cytochrome oxidase thereby adding a histotoxic component to the inflammation (Antunes et al, 2004).
Thus, one wonders what all modalities of a treatment aimed at the macrophage functions might be.
Antunes A, Boveris A, Cadenas E. Proc Ntnl Acad Sci USA. 2004; 101: 16774.
Critical Care
Many facets of bacterial meningitis
28 July 2009
Dear Editor,
The authors rightly point out the central role of macrophages in the severe meningitis. They are also the important source of NO associated classically with the dilatation of blood vessels at 4-20 nM concentrations. Larger, 100-340 nM nitrogen oxide concentrations compete with oxygen at the cytochrome oxidase thereby adding a histotoxic component to the inflammation (Antunes et al, 2004).
Thus, one wonders what all modalities of a treatment aimed at the macrophage functions might be.
Antunes A, Boveris A, Cadenas E. Proc Ntnl Acad Sci USA. 2004; 101: 16774.
Competing interests
None