Association of the nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphism with increased risk for both lupus glomerulonephritis and rheumatoid arthritis in a single genetically homogeneous population

Nitric oxide (NO), a short-lived gaseous free radical, synthesized from L-arginine by NO synthases (NOS), is a potent mediator of biologic responses involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune rheumatic diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Most biological necessary NO is produced by the family of three NOS. To date, several functionally relevant genetic polymorphisms in the eNOS gene have been associated with various vascular, infectious and autoimmune diseases. To our knowledge, no study has explored these polymorphisms for both SLE and RA in the same population. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the eNOS gene intron 4 a/b VNTR polymorphism (a 27-base-pair tandem repeat-based polymorphism) on susceptibility to SLE and RA in patients living in the island of Crete, a genetically homogeneous population. A group of 145 healthy subjects and 190 SLE patients were included in this study. Similarly, a second group of 235 healthy controls and 202 RA patients were analysed. In both cases, patients and controls were sex- and age-matched. Herein we report that the presence of a/b genotype of the eNOS gene may act as a risk factor not for the presence of SLE but for the development of glomerulonephritis (OR 2.71, 95% CI: 1.4-5.2), while it may be a susceptibility gene for RA (OR: 2.005, 95% CI: 1.31-3.07). Thus, in our population, the a/b genotype of the eNOS gene represents a severity rather than a susceptibility genotype for SLE.