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Endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) is produced and released by the endothelium to promote smooth muscle relaxation. The best-characterized is nitric oxide (NO). Some sources equate EDRF and nitric oxide.
It is released in response to a variety of chemical and physical stimuli. It causes the smooth muscle in the vessel wall to relax.
EDRF was discovered and characterized by Robert F. Furchgott, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 with his co-researchers Louis J. Ignarro and Ferid Murad.
Shortly after his death in May 2009, Furchgott's website at SUNY Downstate Medical Center continued to state that his group was "investigating whether the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) is simply nitric oxide or a mixture of substances".
Although there is strong evidence that nitric oxide elicits vasodilation, there is some evidence tying this effect to neuronal rather than endothelial reactions.