Inhaled Nitric Oxide Therapy Fails to Improve Outcome in Experimental Severe Influenza

Darwish, Ilyse; Miller, Chris; Kain, Kevin C.; Liles, W. Conrad

Weight loss over the course of infection was accelerated in mice administered continuous iNO at 80 ppm starting 1 hour prior to inoculation compared to infected control mice receiving compressed room air (P < 0.001) (Fig. 1a) . Continuous iNO administration at 80 ppm starting 1 hour prior to inoculation significantly decreased survival of WSN/33-infected mice compared to infected control mice administered compressed room air (P < 0.01). During the course of infection, 100% of continuous iNO treated mice were euthanized compared to 80% of infected control mice (Fig. 1b) . Intermittent iNO administration at 160 ppm for 30 min intervals every 3.5 hours starting either 1 hour prior to or 4 hours post-infection resulted in similar weight loss kinetics (Fig. 2a) and consequent survival kinetics (Fig. 2b ) of infected mice compared to infected control mice administered compressed room air.