FENG Jiaª²Tao1, SU Yanª²Ling1, GONG Guangª²Fu2, HU Dongª²Xu2, CAOª²Ya2

    1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First People¬ðs Hospital of Foshan City, Foshan 528000, China, 2Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Zhongnan University, Changsha 410011, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To explore the pathophysiological significance of nitric oxide(NO) and nitric oxide synthase(NOS) in congenital heart defects with pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: Twentyª²four patients with congenital heart defects were divided into 3 groups: mild pulmonary hypertension group(n=8), moderate or severe pulmonary hypertension group(n=9), and nonª²pulmonary hypertension group(n=7). NOS mRNA expression was detected in lung tissues with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTª²PCR). RESULTS: The NOS mRNA expression levels in the patients with moderate or severe pulmonary hypertension were much lower than those in the ones with mildª²pulmonary hypertension or nonª²pulmonary hypertension (P<0.05). There was an inverse correlation between the NOS mRNA expression level and the pulmonary arteriopathy in the patients with pulmonary hypertension (r=-0.833, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: In patients with congenital heart defects associated with pulmonary hypertension, NO and NOS play a role in pathological process of pulmonary arteriopathy, and the NOS mRNA expression level was proportional to the severity of pulmonary hypertension or pulmonary arteriopathy. ......