Smoking and gingivitis: focus on inducible nitric oxide synthase, nitric oxide and basic fibroblast growth factor.

BACKGROUND: Periodontal disease pathogenesis has been associated with smoking. Gingivitis is a mild and reversible form of periodontal disease and it tends to progress to periodontitis only in susceptible individuals. In the present study, we aimed to examine the impact of smoking on host responses in gingivitis and to evaluate and compare the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity in gingival tissue and NO and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) levels in the gingival crevicular fluid of patients with gingivitis and healthy individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-one participants were assigned to the gingivitis-smoker (n = 13), gingivitis (n = 13), healthy-smoker (n = 7) and healthy groups (n = 8). Clinical indices were recorded; gingival biopsy and gingival crevicular fluid samples were obtained from papillary regions. iNOS expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. The immunoreactive cells were semiquantitatively assessed. For the quantitative determination of nitrite and nitrate in gingival crevicular fluid, the NO assay kit was used. The amount of bFGF in gingival crevicular fluid was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The gingivitis-smoker group demonstrated a stronger iNOS expression than the non-smoker gingivitis group. iNOS expression intensity was lower in the non-smoker healthy group compared to that in healthy-smokers. No significant gingival crevicular fluid NO and bFGF level changes were observed between groups. Among patients with gingivitis, a positive correlation was detected between gingival crevicular fluid NO and bFGF levels (r = 0.806, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that smoking has significant effects on iNOS expression but not on gingival crevicular fluid NO or bFGF levels in healthy and patients with gingivitis. However, our results suggest that bFGF might be involved in the regulation of NO production via iNOS.

A potential role for nitric oxide pathway in tuberculous pleural effusion.

SETTING: Tuberculous pleural effusion leads to an immune response involving mainly immune and mesothelial cells. Nitric oxide (NO) produced by these cells may have antimycobacterial effects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible role of NO in connection with the arginase enzyme, which controls the synthesis of NO through arginine depletion. DESIGN: Pleural fluid samples from 20 patients with tuberculous pleural effusion were used for arginase activity and NO level determination. Results were compared with those from 12 lung cancer, 12 pneumonia and 12 congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. RESULTS: Pleural arginase activity in tuberculosis patients was found to be significantly decreased compared to lung cancer and pneumonia groups, while the NO level was higher in tuberculosis patients. All groups except the CHF group had significant correlations between NO level and white blood cell count. Arginase activity and red blood cell count correlated significantly in lung cancer and CHF groups. CONCLUSION: The arginine-NO pathway seems to be involved in the pathogenesis of tuberculous pleural effusion. Decreased arginase activity may cause arginine accumulation, which may then lead to increased NO synthesis by immune and mesothelial cells, reflecting a host defence mechanism.

Erythrocyte nitric oxide metabolism in patients with chronic renal failure.

AIMS: This study aims to investigate arginine-nitric oxide pathway in chronic renal failure (CRF) and to establish erythrocyte nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and arginase (ARG) activities in patients with CRF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: NOS and ARG activities were measured in erythrocytes from 30 patients with CRF and 12-control subjects. RESULTS: Erythrocyte NOS activity was found to be significantly lower and ARG activity higher in patients with CRF compared with controls. No differences were, however, found between patients with and without hemodialysis. A negative correlation (r = -0.7) was established between ARG and NOS activities in erythrocytes from patients. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that erythrocyte NO production is diminished in patients with CRF, possibly due to decreased NOS and increased ARG activities.

Possible implications of arginase and diamine oxidase in prostatic carcinoma.

Polyamine metabolism in prostatic tissue, which may give rise to prostatic hyperplasia by inducing cell proliferation, is controlled primarily by two enzymes: arginase and diamine oxidase (DAO). Arginase catalyzes the synthesis of ornithine, the precursor for polyamines from arginine, whereas DAO catalyzes the oxidation of diamines. such as spermine and spermidine, to a much less active compound called putrescine. In this study, we evaluated arginase and DAO activities in prostate tissues of 50 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and in 23 patients with prostatic carcinoma. Both DAO and arginase activities were found to be elevated in cancer tissues as compared to benign prostatic hyperplasia (fivefold and twofold, respectively; P < .001). A strong inverse correlation between arginase and DAO activities was observed in those in the cancer group (r = -0.65; P < .001). Gleason grades of prostatic carcinomas were well correlated with both arginase and DAO activities. Results suggest that DAO and arginase might play an essential role in the mechanism of prostatic disease process by modulating polyamine levels.

A potential role for arginase in recurrent infections and hypertrophy of tonsillar and adenoidal tissue.

Since arginase has been found to be an arginine-depleting and nitric oxide synthase-regulating enzyme, the present study was devised to examine hypertrophied and infected tonsil and adenoid arginase activity in relation to a metabolic arginase-nitric oxide pathway and its association with disease processes. Tissues were taken from 32 children undergoing adenotonsillectomy. There was a statistically significant difference between the two tissue enzyme activities, with tonsillar arginase activity being higher than the corresponding adenoidal tissue (P < 0.005). This suggests a potential role for tissue arginase activity as an outcome module and a contributing factor in chronic recurrent infection and hypertrophy of tonsillar and adenoidal tissues.

Increased serum arginase activity in depressed patients.

1. Arginase, an important part of the arginine-regulating system modulates nitric oxide generation; a neuroregulatory agent, which has been implicated in various neuropathological conditions. 2. In this regard, the authors investigated the arginine-nitric oxide pathway by measuring serum arginase activity in drug free major (n=18) and minor depressed outpatients (n=12) and healthy control subjects (n=30) in order to make a contribution to the understanding of disease mechanism. 3. Major depressed patients were found to have significantly higher serum arginase activity compared to controls (p<0.001) and minor depressives (p=0.001). Moreover, there was significant positive correlation between arginase activity and severity of depression in patients (p<0.001). 4. Results suggest that the arginine-nitric oxide pathway is involved in depression. Enhanced arginase activity in major depressed patients possibly leading to a decrease in nitric oxide synthesis may contribute to the symptomatology of depression.

Seminal arginase activity in infertility.

Arginase (Arg) activity in seminal plasma and sperm cells from infertile men and healthy fertile donors was measured. There were no statistically meaningful differences in seminal plasma Arg activity between the two groups whereas sperm cells from oligospermic infertile men had a higher Arg activity compared with the controls. Some important correlations were established between sperm count and Arg activity (negative values) and sperm motility and Arg activity (positive values) in both sperm cells and plasma samples from infertile men. Results suggest that the arginine-nitric oxide pathway within sperm cells from oligospermic infertile men is disturbed by enhanced Arg activity. We think that this may play a part in sperm dysfunction and male infertility.

Salivary arginase in patients with adult periodontitis.

Human saliva has been shown to possess enzymatic activities, one of which is derived from arginase. Arginase is known to be an arginine-depleting enzyme belonging to the L-arginine/nitric oxide pathway. The aim of this study was to examine the possible role of arginase activity of saliva in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. Mixed saliva samples were collected from 20 adult periodontitis patients and 15 systemically and periodontally healthy subjects. Salivary arginase and total protein contents were determined by using spectrophotometrical enzyme analysis and salivary arginase was expressed as specific activity. Periodontal disease status was determined by clinical periodontal assessments including probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, plaque index and gingival index. While the increase in total protein was not statistically significant, arginase levels in the patient group were significantly higher than the controls. All periodontal indices were found to be significantly higher in the periodontitis group, but no meaningful correlation was observed between the biochemical and periodontal variables in both groups. Furthermore, no significant correlation existed between the amount of arginase and total protein. In conclusion, it was suggested that salivary arginase activity in periodontitis along with the arginine-nitric oxide pathway may be involved in the disease process by using the common substrate L-arginine and inhibiting nitric oxide production.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV and adenosine deaminase activity. Decrease in depression.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) and adenosine deaminase (ADA), two T cell associated enzymes, are known to have a possible interaction and play essential roles in immune system functioning. On the other hand, depression has been shown to be accompanied with some immune-inflammatory alterations. In this regard, in order to make a contribution to the understanding of the ongoing immune disturbances in depression, serum DPPIV and ADA activities were determined in minor and major depressives and compared with healthy controls. Both enzyme activities were found to be decreased in major depressives compared to controls while only DPPIV activity was significantly lower in major depressives than the minor depressives. There were significant inverse relationships between enzyme activities and the severity of depression. Moreover, a positive intracorrelation was found between decreased DPPIV and ADA levels. The correlated decrease in DPPIV and ADA, might be a further support for their possible association. Results also suggest that decreased enzyme activities might reflect the impaired immune state in depression while major depressed patients might have a greater tendency to immune dysfunction than the minor depressed ones.

Evaluation of serum arginase activity in benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostatic cancer.

Activities of arginase, prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) were determined in sera of healthy male controls, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and prostatic cancer patients. Serum arginase activity in the cancer group (22.8+/-11.6 U/l) was significantly lower than in both the control (33.64+/-16.19 U/l) and the BPH group (58.8+/-11.6 U/l) (p<0.001, respectively), while the BPH group had significantly higher levels compared to the controls (p<0.05). However, serum arginase levels in all groups had no statistically significant correlation with PAP and PSA. Serum arginase activity correlated inversely with the Gleason grades. These results suggest that serum arginase assay may be used for the pretreatment evaluation of patients with prostatic diseases.

The significance of testicular reactive oxygen species on testicular histology in infertile patients.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the effects of testicular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and testicular histology on infertile patients with the aid of xanthine oxidase system and testicular tissue malondialdehyde levels. Forty patients with idiopathic infertility constituted our study group. Bilateral testicular biopsies were performed and spermatogenesis was assessed histopathologically. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to spermatogenic pattern (normal spermatogenesis; hypospermatogenesis; maturation arrest; Sertoli cell only syndrome). Testicular tissue xanthine oxidase and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were analyzed in each sample by spectrophotometric assay and thiobarbituric acid reaction assay, respectively. Testicular tissue MDA and xanthine oxidase concentrations were not statistically different in patients having normal spermatogenesis, with respect to Sertoli cell only syndrome, maturation arrest and hypospermatogenesis, respectively. As a result of our study we think that there are still some factors other than ROS which may be important contributors to spermatogenetic injury that need to be examined.

Comparison of antioxidant potentials of red wine, white wine, grape juice and alcohol.

Antioxidant potential (AOP) and non-enzymatic superoxide radical scavenger activity (NSSA) values of red wine, white wine, grape juice and ethyl alcohol were assessed and values were compared. The effects of these beverages on serum AOP and NSSA values were also measured in vitro. Red wine, white wine and grape juice exert strong antioxidant activity in similar degrees and all produce significant effects on serum AOP and NSSA values. However, ethyl alcohol does not have either AOP or NSSA, nor does it have an effect on serum AOP or NSSA values. AOP values (nmol/ml h) of red wine, white wine and grape juice were 20.8 +/- 4.2, 23.2 +/- 4.0 and 24.6 +/- 4.8, respectively. NSSA values (U/ml) of red wine, white wine and grape juice were 30.4 +/- 6.8, 26.8 +/- 5.6 and 32.6 +/- 5.8, respectively. There were no statistically meaningful differences between AOP and NSSA values of the groups (p > 0.05 for all). Results suggest that red wine, white wine and grape juice all have high antioxidant potential to protect cellular structures against peroxidation reaction owing to their rich phenolic contents.