“…Small amounts of NO induced by constitutive NOS are considered beneficial, whereas excess iNOS-induced NO can mediate cell and tissue injury. Periodontal diseases are chronic inflammatory infections associated with gram-negative bacteria, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (26), which stimulate macrophages to generate NO (1,7,16). Moreover, NO is increased in inflamed gingival tissue (11,15), and mercaptoethylguanidine, a selective iNOS inhibitor, prevents bone destruction in ligature-induced rodent periodontitis (21).…”