Red Blood Cell-Mediated Hypoxic Vasodilatation

To the Editor:We were disappointed to read the editorial presented by Drs Gladwin and Schechter,1 which appeared in the same issue of Circulation Research as our article.2 We believe that the views reflected a selective bias from 1 of 2 camps that have posed diametrically opposite views. This editorial was simply another review on nitrite by these authors. We are not members of 1 “camp” or of the other, but simply wish to present our observations in the hope that more physiological data may provide clarification.Although Gladwin and Schechter began by stating that the purpose of their editorial was not to discuss our article, they proceeded to criticize our work throughout the editorial. Here, we wish to set the record straight on several important scientific issues that we believe were misrepresented in the Gladwin and Schechter editorial. Specifically,1. They make a lengthy point of questioning the levels of nitrosyl hemoglobin (HbNO) we describe and how this might be reflected in vivo and advise follow-up studies with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). We …