Increased nitric oxide production in patients with Behçet's disease: is it a new activity marker?
BACKGROUND
The origin of Behçet's disease (BD) is unclear. One of the prominent features of BD is vasculitis and thrombosis as a result of endothelial dysfunction. Because nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized by endothelium, we considered it as an interesting target of investigation in BD.


OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to define the level of NO in the serum of patients with BD and its relation with disease activity.


METHODS
As an indicator for NO, serum total nitrite levels (end product of NO) were measured by Griess reaction in 52 consecutive patients with BD and compared with 32 age- and sex-matched healthy staff volunteers. Serum NO levels of active and inactive patients were compared.


RESULTS
The overall serum nitrite levels in patients with BD (40.25 +/- 10.51 micromol/L) were significantly higher (P <.001) than those in healthy volunteers (25.09 +/- 5.33 micromol/L). The difference in serum total nitrite levels among patients with active BD (46.74 +/- 10.62 micromol/L) and inactive BD (33.24 +/- 3.73 micromol/L) was significant (P <.001). Significant differences were observed in serum nitrite levels between patients in the inactive period of BD and the control group (P <.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Increased NO production might be responsible for the overall inflammatory process of BD. NO seems to be related to disease activity.
Evereklioglu
Cem
C
Departments of Ophthalmology, Gaziantep University Medical Faculty, Research Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey. evereklioglu@hotmail.com
Turkoz
Yusuf
Y
Er
Hamdi
H
Inaloz
H Serhat
HS
Ozbek
Emin
E
Cekmen
Mustafa
M
D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000097:blood*; D000515:alpha 1-Antitrypsin / Q000378:metabolism; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins / Q000378:metabolism
D015415:Biomarkers; D000515:alpha 1-Antitrypsin; D000511:alpha-Macroglobulins; D009569:Nitric Oxide