Association Of The Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Gene Polymorphism With Essential Hypertension And Its Cardiocerebrovascular Complications

Objective:The linkage analysis of gene polymorphism and diseases is the common method to study the molecular biological base of multigenic diseases. Some data indicated that essential hypertension and its most common complications (cerebral infarction and coronary heart disease) were both multigenic hereditary diseases which result from interaction of genetic factors and environmental factors. Endothelial nitric oxide sysnthase (eNOS) produces nitric oxide(NO) which, after diffusing into vascular smooth muscle cells, activates guanylate cyclase leading to vasodilatation. eNOS is a potent regulator of vasomotor tone and peripheral vascular resistance. The potent vasodilator property of NO in the resistant arteries, coupled with the genetic basis of hypertension, suggests that mutations affecting the endothelial NO(eNOS) gene, and consequently impairing NO synthesize, might contribute to increased vascular resistance and in turn an elevation in systemic blood pressure(BP). Accumulating evidence, including findings of elevation of arterial blood pressure in mice lacking the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene, strongly suggests that alteration in NO production...