NOS2 and bacterial infectious disease: Islets are highly vascularized and receive a disproportionately large amount of blood flow, a feature that is crucial for proper blood glucose control but also facilitates exposure of β-cells to circulating cytokines produced during a viral or bacterial infection.6,7 It has long been known that these cytokines stimulate β-cells to express inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and the resulting production of micromolar levels of nitric oxide inhibit mitochondrial oxidation (aconitase activity and electron transport) and insulin secretion.