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

The authors studied the nitrite plasma levels in a group of patients with peripheral obstructive arteriopathy.

The series consisted of 63 subjects (43 males, 20 females, mean age 64 +/- 9 years) suffering from peripheral arterial occlusive disease of the lower limbs, at II (55 cases) and III (8 cases) Fontaine stage; 21 subjects with total cholesterol (TC) lower than 200 mg/dl were considered as normolipemics, 24 subjects with TC values between 200 and 240 as mild hypercholesterolemics, 18 subjects with TC above 240 mg/dl as severe hypercholesterolemics. For each subject the determination of nitrite plasma levels was carried out, by the Gutman and Hollywood colorimetric method.

In the normolipemic arteriopathics the basal value of nitrites was sharply reduced (p < 0.05) compared to the controls; in the mild hypercholesterolemics 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 the arteriopathic patients, globally considered, the mean basal value of nitrites was superimposable on that of the normal control subjects.

This study, carried out on the nitrite plasma levels in a group of arteriopathic patients allowed us to show the enhanced levels of nitric oxide due to the increase of LDL; this effect, previously observed in hypercholesterolemic diabetic and coronaropathic patients, leads us to the hypothesis of a stimulating effect of LDL upon NO endothelial synthesis; this would be a compensatory response to the damaging and vasoconstricting action of LDL.