Previously we showed that Brown Norway (BN/Mcw) rats are more resistant to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury than Dahl S (SS/Mcw) rats due to increased nitric oxide (x NO) generation secondary to increased heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) association with endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3). Here we determined whether increased resistance to I/R injury in BN/Mcw hearts is also rela...

Hypoxia-inducible factor stimulates the expression of apelin, a potent vasodilator, in response to reduced blood arterial oxygen saturation. However, aberrations in the apelin system impair pulmonary vascular function, potentially resulting in the development of high-altitude (HA)-related disorders. This study aimed to elucidate the genetic and epigenetic regulation of apelin, apelin receptor (...

Administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) leads to the development of hypertension. Because glucocorticoids can affect the nitric oxide system at several sites, the present study tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression may be altered in ACTH-induced and corticosterone-induced hypertension in the rat. This was addressed by measuring Nos1, Nos2, and Nos3 mRNA ...

Previous studies have demonstrated that an increase in dietary NaCl (salt) intake stimulated endothelial cells to produce transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). The intent of the present study was to determine the functional significance of increased TGF-β on endothelial cell function. Young Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing 0.3 or 8.0% NaCl for 2 days before treatment with a specifi...

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide (NO) has been largely associated with cardiovascular protection through improvement of endothelial function. Recently, new evidence about modulation of NO release by microRNAs (miRs) has been reported, which could be involved with statin-dependent pleiotropic effects, including anti-inflammatory properties related to vascular endothelium function. OBJECTIVE To evaluate...

BACKGROUND Previous studies inferring that the NOS3 gene was associated with the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MetS) had inconsistent findings. We investigated the role of three NOS3 polymorphisms (T-786C, intron 4b/a, and G894T) in the risk of MetS using a hospital-based case-control study. METHODS We recruited 339 MetS cases and 783 non-MetS controls at a central Taiwanese hospital. I...

Dietary antioxidants may interact with endogenous sources of pro- and antioxidants to impact breast cancer risk. A nested case-control study of postmenopausal women (505 cases and 502 controls) from the Cancer Prevention Study-II Nutrition Cohort was conducted to examine the interaction between oxidative stress-related genes and level of vegetable and fruit intake on breast cancer risk. Genetic...

The number of studies that have evaluated exercise training (ET) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS)3 gene polymorphisms is scarce. The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between exercise training and NOS3 polymorphisms at -786T>C, 894G>T, and intron 4b/a on blood pressure (BP) using 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), nitrate/nitrite levels (NOx), and redox state. Eighty-six...

Little is known about the association of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) gene polymorphisms and the presence of insulin resistance and the early evolution of atherosclerosis in nondiabetic subjects with cardiovascular disease (CAD) and stent implantation. The present study was performed in an attempt to better understand whether metabolic, endothelial, and angiographic findings charact...

Endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA levels are abnormal in diseases of the cardiovascular system, but changes in gene expression cannot be accounted for by transcription alone. We found evidence for the existence of an antisense mRNA (sONE) that is derived from a transcription unit (NOS3AS) on the opposite DNA strand from which the human eNOS (NOS3) mRNA is transcribed at human chromo...