Neuroinflammation and demyelination from the point of nitrosative stress as a new target for neuroprotection

The role of nitrosative stress in the early pathogenesis of neuroinflammation and demyelination is undoubtedly wide. This review summarizes and integrates the results, found in previously performed studies, which have evaluated nitrosative stress participation in neuroinflammation. The largest number of studies indicates that the supply of nitrosative stress inhibitors has led to the opposite clinical effects in experimental studies. Some results claim that attributing the protective role to nitric oxide, outside the total changes of redox oxidative processes and without following the clinical and paraclinical correlates of neuroinflammation, is an overrated role of this mediator. The fact is that the use of nitrosative stress inhibitors would be justified in the earlier phases of neuroinflammation. The ideal choice would be a specific inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor, because its use would preserve the physiological features of nitric oxide produced by the effects of constitutive NOS. This review discusses the antinitrosative therapy as a potential mode of therapy that aims to control neuroinflammation in early phases, delaying its later phases, which are accompanied with irreversible neurological disabilities. Some parameters of nitrosative stress might serve as surrogate biomarkers for neuroinflammation intensity and its radiological and clinical correlates.