ABSTRACT
NITRATE PHARMACOLOGY Nitrates relax vascular smooth muscle in veins, larger arterioles and arteries through an endothelial dependent pathway.The proposed mechanism involves conversion of administered nitrate to nitric oxide (NO) at or near the plasma membrane (Fig. 1). In turn, NO activates guanylate cyclase to produce cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). Intracellular accumulation of cGMP causes vasodilation.This mechanism is similar to the vasodilation induced by sodium nitroprusside and endogenous endothelial-derived NO.
