Serum levels of nitric oxide as a predictor of survival in acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by H1N1 pneumonia?

A large number of studies show elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO) in infective syndromes, but there is an insufficient number of studies which have investigated serum levels of NO in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), especially in relation to survival. Hence, we created a study with the aim of determining the NO levels in relation to ARDS survival. Serum levels of NO were measured by Griess reaction in 29 patients [16 men (55%), mean age years 52.72±18]. All data were statistically analyzed using one way ANOVA. Our results show significantly higher serum NO levels in ARDS survivors compared to ARDS non-survivors, (p < 0.05). We conclude that higher serum levels of NO are strongly associated with better clinical outcomes, including increased survival.