Effects of hypoxia and aging on heart mtNOS

VALDEZ LB; ZAOBORNYJ T; ALVAREZ S; BOVERIS A; LA PADULA P; COSTA LE

Proceedings of the XII Biennial Meeting of the Society for Free Radical Research

Monduzzi Editore SpA - Medimond Inc.

Lugar: Bologna, Italy; Año: 2004; p. 125 - 128

It has been repeatedly suggested that NO plays an important role in heart adaptation to chronic hypoxia. Rat heart mtNOS contributed with about 41% of the total organ NO production and mtNOS activity was selectively up-regulated, by 20-70% (depending on rat age) after exposure to 2-23 months of hypobaric hypoxia. Rat heart mtNOS, NADH-cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome oxidase activities decreased with age 20%, 40% and 8% respectively. Heart mtNOS expression is regulated by the O2 availability at the organ.