Abstract-Nitric oxide (NO) was originally discovered as a vasodilator product of the endothelium. Over the last 15 years, this vascular mediator has been shown to have important antiplatelet actions as well. By activating guanylyl cyclase, inhibiting phosphoinositide 3-kinase, impairing capacitative calcium influx, and inhibiting cyclooxygenase-1, endothelial NO limits platelet activation, adhesion, and aggregation. Platelets are also an important source of NO, and this platelet-derived NO pool limits recruitment of platelets to the platelet-rich thrombus. A deficiency of bioactive NO is associated with arterial thrombosis in animal models, individuals with endothelial dysfunction, and patients with a deficiency of the extracellular antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase-3. This enzyme catalyzes the reduction of hydrogen and lipid peroxides, which limits the availability of these reactive oxygen species to react with and inactivate NO. The complex biochemical reactions that underlie the function and inactivation of NO in the vasculature represent an important set of targets for therapeutic intervention for the prevention and treatment of arterial thrombotic disorders. Key Words: endothelium Ⅲ nitroglycerin Ⅲ S-nitrosothiols Ⅲ nitric oxide synthase Ⅲ oxidative stress N itrovasodilators have been used to alleviate myocardial ischemia for more than a century, and the recognition that they simulate endogenous endothelial nitric oxide (NO) represents one of the most important biological discoveries in cardiovascular biomedicine in the last 20 years. 1 Their antianginal effects have been mostly attributed to relaxation of vascular smooth muscle and resulting arterial vasodilation, which leads to improved perfusion and oxygen delivery. This class of drugs also manifests antithrombotic activity, principally by inhibiting platelet function. First shown by Hampton et al 2 in 1967, the antiplatelet effect of nitroglycerin remained controversial for many years because of the suprapharmacological doses required to inhibit platelet aggregation in vitro and the lack of evidence for a direct antiplatelet effect in vivo. Akin to its effects in vascular smooth muscle cells, 3,4 nitroglycerin also inhibits platelet aggregation by activating guanylyl cyclase, 5,6 and this inhibitory action can be potentiated by maintaining intracellular thiol redox state. 6 These observations, coupled with the recognition of the role of plateletdependent thrombus formation in acute coronary syndromes, led to renewed interest in the antiplatelet effects of nitrovasodilators and, eventually, of NO itself.In 1985, we reported the case of a 29-year-old woman with a hypertensive crisis treated with sodium nitroprusside for blood pressure control who sustained an intracerebral hemorrhage after being normotensive on therapy for 24 hours. 7 We showed that her bleeding time was prolonged, in vitro platelet aggregation was attenuated in the presence of N-acetyl-L-cysteine, and these abnormalities returned to normal with discontinuation of the sodium nitro...