Nitric oxide (NO) derived from nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is an important paracrine effector that maintains vascular tone. The release of NO mediated by NOS isozymes under various O(2) conditions critically determines the NO bioavailability in tissues. Because of experimental difficulties, there has been no direct information on how enzymatic NO production and distribution change around arteri...

Salt-sensitive hypertension is associated with impaired NO/cGMP signaling. We hypothesized that increased superoxide production by NADPH oxidase and altered endothelial NO synthase (NOS3) phosphorylation determine endothelial dysfunction in hypertension. Experiments tested if NO/cGMP signaling and NOS3 serine phosphorylation are decreased and NADPH oxidase activity is increased in mesenteric ar...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Silent white matter lesions (WMLs) may represent early target organ damage of the brain in patients with hypertension. Because these lesions may have a genetic background, we assessed the associations between polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin system and the endothelial NO synthase (NOS3) genes and silent WMLs. METHODS Ninety-three hypertensive individuals were stud...

INTRODUCTION Several studies have shown altered levels of nitric oxide (NO) and its stable metabolites (NOx (-)) in blood and cerebrospinal fluid of psychiatric patients. The aim of our study was to replicate previous findings and investigate the influence of the nitrinergic system in bipolar disorder and adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (aADHD) in particular. METHODS The concen...

BACKGROUND Sevoflurane is a fluorinated volatile anaesthetic agent that lowers arterial pressure, in part by vasodilation. We previously showed, in rat lungs, that sevoflurane affected the expression of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor peptide. Therefore, we hypothesized that the vasodilation induced by sevoflurane involved vasodilatory and vasoconstrictor components. METHODS Rat...

AIM To test the association of NOS3 gene with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). METHODS The study included 110 unrelated term or preterm born children (69 boys and 41 girls) with HIE and 128 term and preterm born children (60 boys and 68 girls) without any neurological problems after the second year of life. Children with perinatal HIE fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for perinatal asph...

INTRODUCTION Coronary artery disease progression after primary coronary artery bypass grafting may, beside classical atherosclerosis risk factors, be depending on genetic predisposition. METHODS We investigated 192 CABG patients (18% female, age: 60.9 +/- 7.4 years). Clinically cardiac adverse events were defined as need for reoperation (n = 88; 46%), reintervention (n = 58; 30%), or angina (...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the clinical presentation of mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) varies widely. Genetic variability affecting the host response may also influence the susceptibility to MPP. Several studies have investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of some genes and the risks of CAP; however,...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Endothelial nitric oxide exerts a variety of protective effects on endothelial cells and blood vessels, and therefore the nitric oxide synthase 3 gene (NOS3) is a logical candidate gene for stroke susceptibility. METHODS We used the population-based Stroke Prevention in Young Women case-control study to assess the association of five NOS3 polymorphisms in 110 cases (46%...

BACKGROUND It is estimated that 5% of the hypertensive patients are resistant to conventional antihypertensive therapy. Polymorphisms in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) gene have been associated with high blood pressure levels, but not with resistant hypertension. The aim of the present study was to investigate if the -786T>C and G894T (Glu298Asp) polymorphisms of the NOS3 gene wer...