Association of a missense mutation in the NOS3 gene with exhaled nitric oxide levels.

Publication/Presentation Date

7-15-2003

Abstract

There is evidence that genetic factors affect nitric oxide formation and that sequence variants in the nitric oxide synthase genes contribute to the observed variance of nitric oxide levels in exhaled air (fraction of expired nitric oxide, FENO) in subjects with asthma. We identified a strong association between a known functional NOS3 missense sequence variant in the endothelial nitric oxide gene (G894T) and FENO level in a cohort of subjects with asthma. Age- and sex-adjusted FENO levels were lowest in asthmatic subjects with the TT genotype (geometric mean FENO [95% CI] = 7.17 [4.48 to 11.48] ppb) and were significantly higher in those with either the GT genotype (geometric mean FENO [95% CI] = 17.11 [13.80 to 21.23] ppb) or the GG genotype (geometric mean FENO [95% CI] = 12.06 [9.91 to 14.67] ppb) (F2,59 = 5.97, p = 0.004). The G894T DNA variant explained 16.3% of the residual variance in FENO levels. Our results demonstrate that the endothelial nitric oxide synthase, a nitric oxide synthase constitutively expressed in epithelial cells, plays an important role in determining measured levels of exhaled nitric oxide, a marker of the asthmatic condition.

Volume

168

Issue

2

First Page

228

Last Page

231

ISSN

1073-449X

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

12738608

Department(s)

Department of Medicine

Document Type

Article

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