Nitric oxide (NO) is formed during the oxidation of L-arginine to L-citrulline by the action of multiple isoenzymes of NO synthase (NOS): neuronal NOS (nNOS), endotelial NOS (eNOS), and inducible NOS (iNOS). NO plays a relevant role in the vascular endothelium, in central and peripheral neurons, and in immunity and inflammatory systems. In addition, several authors showed a consistent contribution of NO to different aspects of the reproductive physiology. The aim of the present review is to analyse the published data on the role of NO within the ovary. It has been demonstrated that the multiple isoenzymes of NOS are expressed and localized in the ovary of different species. More to the point, a consistent role was ascribed to NO in the processes of steroidogenesis, folliculogenesis, and oocyte meiotic maturation in in vitro and in vivo studies using animal models. Unfortunately, there are few nitric oxide data for humans; there are preliminary data on the implication of nitric oxide for oocyte/embryo quality and in-vitro fertilization/embryo transfer (IVF/ET) parameters. NO plays a remarkable role in the ovary, but more investigation is needed, in particular in the context of human ovarian physiology.

中文翻译：

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一氧化氮在卵巢中的作用的新见解：文献综述。

一氧化氮（NO）是在L-精氨酸氧化为L-瓜氨酸的过程中通过NO合酶（NOS）的多种同工酶的作用而形成的：神经元NOS（nNOS），内膜NOS（eNOS）和诱导型NOS（iNOS）。NO在血管内皮，中枢和周围神经元以及免疫和炎性系统中起重要作用。此外，几位作者证明了NO对生殖生理学各个方面的一致贡献。本综述的目的是分析关于NO在卵巢中的作用的公开数据。已经证明，NOS的多种同工酶在不同物种的卵巢中表达和定位。更重要的是，NO在类固醇生成，卵泡生成，动物模型进行的体外和体内研究显示，卵母细胞和卵母细胞减数分裂成熟。不幸的是，人类的一氧化氮数据很少。关于一氧化氮对卵母细胞/胚胎质量和体外受精/胚胎移植（IVF / ET）参数的影响，已有初步数据。NO在卵巢中起着举足轻重的作用，但是还需要进行更多的研究，尤其是在人类卵巢生理学方面。