Oxidative stress reduces the expression of neuronal NOS in cardiac tissue and cell (545.3)

Obesity is a major global health concern and greatly increases the risk of developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Diabetic patients are also predisposed to various cardiovascular diseases; however, the underlying mechanism of the effects of diabetes on cardiomyocyte viability and thus, overall heart function remains to be established. Increased fatty acid oxidation during diabetes results in increased oxidative stress, which likely contributes to the adverse changes in the myocardium. Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the regulation of cardiovascular homeostasis in experimental animal models and humans. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) knockout in mice resulted in increased oxidative stress in heart. In cardiac myocytes. nNOS was shown to coimmunoprecipitate with xanthine oxidoreductase, a critical enzyme for superoxide production, and to inhibit its production by the formation of peroxynitrite, all of which suggest a critical role of nNOS-derived NO in regulating oxidative stress in heart...