Abstract

EXPRESSION OF INDUCIBLE NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Saranya Mani* and Raskin Erusan

Abstract

Hyperleptinemia may play an important role in obesity-associated cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis. Leptin exerts many potentially atherogenic effects such as induction of endothelial dysfunction, stimulation of inflammatory reaction, oxidative stress, decrease in paraoxonase activity, platelet aggregation, migration, hypertrophy and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Nitric oxide (NO) is a short-lived, gaseous free radical, synthesized from Larginine by NO synthases (NOS). The inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is a main enzyme producing nitric oxide during inflammation and thus contributes to the initiation and development of inflammatory cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. The aim of the study was to elucidate the link between leptin and inflammation by in vitro ctivation of the PBMCS with leptin and to confirm the expression of iNOS by western blotting technique in CVD. The results show that the In vitro activation of PBMC with leptin showed bands of 130 kDa which confirmed the presence of iNOS. The in vivo expression of iNOS correlates with the leptin levels in normal and overweight BMI CVD patients respectively. This shows the elevated leptin levels was associated with elevated iNOS.

Keywords: Obesity, inflammation, CVD, iNOS, leptin.