Nitric oxide activity in platelets of dengue haemorrhagic fever patients: the apparent paradoxical role of ADMA and l-NMMA.

Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a prevalent acute disease that occurs in patients infected by an arbovirus in tropical and subtropical regions. We have previously shown increased intraplatelet nitric oxide (NO) production in patients with dengue fever associated with reduced platelet aggregation. In this study, l-arginine transport as well as expression and activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms in the presence or absence of l-arginine analogues were examined in 23 DHF patients.

Insulin resistance in obesity and metabolic syndrome: is there a connection with platelet l-arginine transport?

Objective: Nitric oxide (NO) is a short-lived gaseous messenger with multiple physiological functions including regulation of blood flow, platelet adhesion and aggregation inhibition. NO synthases (NOS) catalyze the conversion of cationic amino acid L-arginine in L-citrulline and NO. Despite an increasing prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the last decades, the exact mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis and cardiovascular complications are not fully understood.

Nitric oxide, malnutrition and chronic renal failure.

The conditionally essential amino acid L-arginine is the substrate for nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, a key second messenger involved in physiological functions including endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation and inhibition of platelet adhesion and aggregation. Extracellular L-arginine transport seems to be essential for the production of NO by the action of NO synthases (NOS), even when the intracellular levels of L-arginine are available in excess (L-arginine paradox). Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a complex clinical condition associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and thrombosis leading to cardiovascular events.

Plasma amino acid profile and L-arginine uptake in red blood cells from malnourished uremic patients.

Background: Patients with end-stage chronic renal failure (CRF) (uremia) have a high prevalence of inflammation, malnutrition, and oxidative stress. All of these features seem to be associated with the increased cardiovascular mortality observed in these patients. Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the pathogenesis of CRF.

Uremia, atherothrombosis and malnutrition: the role of L-arginine-nitric oxide pathway.

The uraemic syndrome is a complex condition that results from an accumulation of multiple waste compounds, combined with failure of the endocrine and homeostatic functions of the kidney in end-stage chronic renal failure (CRF) patients. Recently it has become clear that uraemia is a microinflammatory condition with a significant increase in inflammation markers. Malnutrition is a common pathological condition which exacerbates cardiovascular mortality in uraemic patients.