Assessment of serum nitric oxide level in essential hypertension

Aim: Nitric oxide, the second messenger is found to be the main factor involved in endothelial dysfunction and its level is found to be altered in hypertensive states. The aim is to elucidate the association between serum NO levels and essential hypertension and to compare with normal individuals. Materials and Methods: The study sample is comprised of 150 unrelated essential hypertensive patients and130 apparently healthy normotensive controls. Plasma glucose, serum urea, serum creatinine, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and triglyceride concentration (TGL) were determined enzymatically and serum NO index (NOx) estimated by Griess method. Results: Statistically significant low NOx levels, with p value of 0.001 was observed in cases (14.69 + SD 4.45) when compared to controls (18.16 + SD 7.23). Serum NOx level was not influenced by biochemical parameters like plasma glucose and lipid profile. Conclusion: It was found that the low serum NO index is an independent risk indicator in essential hypertension, based on this study.