Role of ascorbic acid in the metabolism of S‐nitroso‐glutathione

Abstract
Although nitric oxide (NO) has been known to generate S-nitroso-thiols (RSNOs), dynamic aspects of their metabolism remain to be elucidated. The present work reports the reactivity of S-nitroso-glutathione (GS-NO) with various compounds with reducing activity. Kinetic analysis revealed that among various reagents tested, ascorbic acid showed a potent activity to decompose GS-NO to glutathione and oxidized products of NO. During the reaction of GS-NO and ascorbic acid, monodehydroascorbate was found to appear as an intermediate. These results suggest that ascorbic acid might be an important modulator for RS-NO metabolism.