Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Reversible Reduction in Plasma Concentration of Nitric Oxide Induced by Cigarette Smoking in Young Adults

1997; Elsevier BV; Volume: 79; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0002-9149(97)00189-6

1879-1913

Koichi Node, Masafumi Kitakaze, Hiromichi Yoshikawa, Hiroaki Kosaka, Masatsugu Hori,

High Altitude and Hypoxia

The vascular endothelium is important in the regulation of regional blood flow by releasing endothelium-derived relaxing factor, whose major component, nitric oxide (NO), acts as both a paracrine and autocrine messenger.[ 1 Furchgott RF Zawadzki JV The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine. Nature. 1980; 288: 373-376 Crossref PubMed Scopus (9872) Google Scholar ]Cigarette smoking, a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, is associated with coronary, cerebral, and peripheral vascular diseases,[ 2 Holbrook JH Grundy SM Hennekens CH Kannel WB Strong JP Cigarette smoking and cardiovascular diseases. A statement for health professionals by a task force appointed by the steering committee of the American Heart Association. Circulation. 1984; 70: 1114A-1117A PubMed Google Scholar , 3 Caralis DG Deligonul U Kern MJ Cohen JD Smoking is a risk factor for coronary spasm in young women. Circulation. 1992; 85: 905-909 Crossref PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar ]and the important role of the endothelium in the regulation of vascular tone is emphasized by the abnormal endothelial function apparent in cigarette smokers.[ 4 Winniford MD Wheelan KR Kremers MS Ugolini V van den Berg Jr., E Niggemann EH Jansen DE Hillis LD Smoking-induced coronary vasoconstriction in patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease: evidence for adrenergically mediated alterations in coronary artery tone. Circulation. 1986; 73: 662-667 Crossref PubMed Scopus (187) Google Scholar , 5 Quillen JE Rossen JD Oskarsson HJ Minor Jr., RL Lopez AG Winniford MD Acute effect of cigarette smoking on the coronary circulation: constriction of epicardial and resistance vessels. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1993; 22: 642-647 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (170) Google Scholar , 6 Kiowski W Linder L Stoschitzky K Pfisterer M Burckhardt D Burkart F Buhler FR Diminished vascular response to inhibition of endothelium-derived nitric oxide and enhanced vasoconstriction to exogenously administered endothelin-1 in clinically healthy smokers. Circulation. 1994; 90: 27-34 Crossref PubMed Scopus (237) Google Scholar , 7 Zeiher AM Schachinger VS Minners J Long-term cigarette smoking impairs endothelium-dependent coronary artery vasodilator function. Circulation. 1995; 92: 10994-11000 Crossref Scopus (418) Google Scholar , 8 Heitzer T Yia-Herttuala S Luoma J Kurz S Munzel T Just H Olschewski M Drexler H Cigarette smoking potentiates endothelial dysfunction of forearm resistance vessels in patients with hypercholesterolemia: role of oxidized LDL. Circulation. 1996; 93: 1346-1353 Crossref PubMed Scopus (369) Google Scholar ]In such individuals, the endothelium-dependent vasodilator responses are blunted, largely because of reduced bioactivity of NO. However, given that NO exerts many cardioprotective actions, including vasodilation, inhibition of platelet adhesion and aggregation, and inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration, it is important to determine the effect of cigarette smoking on the plasma concentration of NO. We therefore measured the serum concentration of the metabolic end products of NO, nitrate plus nitrite, in the systemic venous blood of asymptomatic young adult cigarette smokers, and examined the relation between plasma NO and the extent of cigarette smoking. Because the risk of subsequent myocardial infarction is reduced in smokers who give up smoking cigarettes after their first attack,[ 9 Rosenberg L Kaufman DW Helmrich SP Shapiro S The risk of myocardial infarction after quitting smoking in men under 55 years of age. N Engl J Med. 1985; 313: 1511-1514 Crossref PubMed Scopus (288) Google Scholar ]we also compared the plasma NO concentrations between former and current smokers.