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NOS2 polymorphisms associated with the susceptibility to pulmonary arterial hypertension with systemic sclerosis: contribution to the transcriptional activity.

ABSTRACT: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterized by tissue fibrosis. One of several complications of SSc, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) can be refractory to treatment, both novel and established. In the present study we investigated the ratio of circulating nitric oxide to endothelin-1 in patients with both SSc and PAH, and determined whether polymorphisms in NOS2 (the nitric oxide synthase 2 gene) are associated with susceptibility to PAH. Endothelin-1 in plasma and nitric oxide metabolites (nitrate and nitrite) in serum were measured. The nitric oxide/endothelin-1 ratio was significantly lower in patients with both SSc and PAH than in patients with SSc only or in healthy control individuals. We confirmed the presence of two single nucleotide polymorphisms at positions -1,026 and -277 and a pentanucleotide repeat (CCTTT) at -2.5 kilobases. There were significant differences in single nucleotide polymorphisms between patients with SSc who had PAH and those who did not, and between patients with both SSc and PAH and healthy control individuals. The CCTTT repeat was significantly shorter in patients with both SSc and PAH than in patients with SSc only or in healthy control individuals. Transcriptional activity were analyzed using the luciferase reporter assay. The transcriptional activity of NOS2 was much greater in fibroblasts transfected by a vector with a long allele of the CCTTT repeat than in those transfected by a vector with a short allele. Polymorphisms in the NOS2 gene are associated with transcriptional activity of the NOS2 gene and with susceptibility to SSc-related PAH.

SUBMITTER: Kawaguchi Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1779390 | biostudies-other | 2006

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:RationalePatients with systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) continue to have an unacceptably high mortality rate despite the progress achieved with pulmonary arterial vasodilator therapies.ObjectivesWe sought to determine whether SSc-PAH is a clinically distinct pulmonary vascular disease phenotype when compared with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) on the basis of progression of echocardiographic right ventricular (RV) dysfunction.MethodsRetrospective analysis of echocardiographic data in 13 patients with SSc-PAH and 11 patients with IPAH was used to delineate the progression of RV dysfunction during single or combination pulmonary arterial vasodilator therapy. All patients had right heart catheterization-confirmed pulmonary arterial hypertension as well as complete baseline (at the time of diagnosis) and follow-up (most recent) echocardiograms. We excluded patients with significant scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease. Adjusting for time of follow-up and disease duration, we performed mixed model regression analyses comparing the changes between the two groups for different echocardiographic variables: tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, tricuspid regurgitation jet velocity, right atrial area, and RV diameter.ResultsThe mean ages for the SSc-PAH and IPAH groups were 60.8 and 48.2 years, respectively. The mean follow-up periods for the two groups were 3.8 and 1.95 years, respectively. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion did not improve in patients with SSc-PAH, whereas it increased in the patients with IPAH (-0.38 mm, P?=?0.87; vs. +5.6 mm, P?=?0.02). The other echocardiographic variables showed a trend toward worsening in the SSc-PAH group and improvement in the IPAH group.ConclusionsOur results indicate that, in patients with SSc-PAH, echocardiographic RV function does not improve over time compared with that of patients with IPAH, despite institution of pulmonary artery vasodilator therapies.

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NOS2 polymorphisms associated with the susceptibility to pulmonary arterial hypertension with systemic sclerosis: contribution to the transcriptional activity.

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