Nitrite plasma levels in normolipemic and hypercholesterolemic patients with peripheral occlusive arteriopathy

Background. The authors studied the nitrite plasma levels in a group of pat ients with peripheral obstructive arteriopathy, Methods. The series consisted of 63 subjects (43 males, 20 females, mean ag e 64+/-9 years) suffering from peripheral arterial occlusive disease of the lower limbs, at II (55 cases) and III (8 cases) Fontaine stage; 21 subject s with total cholesterol (TC) lower than 200 mg/dl were considered as normo lipemics, 24 subjects with TC values between 200 and 240 as mild hyperchole sterolemics, 18 subjects with TC above 240 mg/dl as severe hypercholesterol emics. For each subject the determination of nitrite plasma levels was carr ied out, by the Gutman and Hollywood colorimetric method. Results. In the normolipemic arteriopathics the basal value of nitrites was sharply reduced (p<0.05) compared to the controls; in the mild hypercholes terolemics the mean basal value of nitrites was markedly higher compared to the controls; in the severe hypercholesterolemics the mean basal value of nitrites was statistically (p<0.05) higher than that of the controls, In th e arteriopathic patients, globally considered, the mean basal value of nitr ifies was superimposable on that of the normal control subjects, Conclusions. This study, carried out on the nitrite plasma levels in a grou p of arteriopathic patients allowed us to show the enhanced levels of nitri c oxide due to the increase of LDL; this effect, previously observed in hyp ercholesterolemic diabetic and coronaropathic patients, leads us to the hyp othesis of a stimulating effect of LDL upon NO endothelial synthesis; this would be a compensatory response to the damaging and vasoconstricting actio n of LDL.