Tibetan patients with essential hypertension caused by underlying oxidative metabolism dysfunction and depressed nitric oxide synthesis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the role of oxidative metabolism and nitric oxide synthesis for elucidating their pathophysiological mechanisms in a Tibetan patient with essential hypertension.


METHODS
The serum levels of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were assayed in sixty native Tibetans (thirty hypertensive patients and thirty healthy volunteers as control).


RESULTS
The levels of T-SOD, T-AOC, NO and NOS were significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group (P < 0.01); MDA was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (P < 0.01). The level of MDA had a strong negative correlation with T-SOD, T-AOC, NO and NOS (r = -0.82, -0.76, -0.79, -0.73, respectively, P < 0.001 for all).


CONCLUSIONS
Tibetan patients with essential hypertension (EH) may have underlying oxidative metabolism dysfunction and depressed NO synthesis, both responsible for the hypertensive process.
Li
Dangsheng
D
The Third Department of Internal Medicine, The 476th Hospital of PLA, Fuzhou 350002, China. lds476@hotmail.com
Wang
Xiongwei
X
Fu
Zhongming
Z
Yu
Jun
J
Da
Wenli
W
Peng
Shunzhou
S
Wang
Xiangui
X
D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018609:Tibet
D009569:Nitric Oxide