THE ROLE OF NITRIC OXIDE (NO) AND STATINS IN ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION AND ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Vascular endothelium plays an essential role in the regulation of the vascular tone, contributing to maintaining the balance between vasodilatation - vasoconstriction, owing to the production of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) under the action of different endogenous and exogenous factors. The loss of the functional integrity of the vascular endothelium, called endothelial dysfunction, in different hearth diseases, is associated with the damage of NO production. Atherosclerosis, an inflammatory chronic disease, is characterised from the beginning through leukocytes adhesion to the vascular endothelium, the first step of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis. Statins, recently introduced in the therapy for lowering the cholesterol level, through this effect and also the pleiotropic effects, improve the endothelial dysfunction through the increase of endogenous production of NO in different pathways.