Abstract
The stress reactivity, the biological age, the arterial pressure, and the excretion of nitric oxide (NO) metabolites into alveolar air (the concentration of nitrates and nitrites in alveolar condensate) were determined in more than 500 students aged 17–21 from the Medical Academy when the students were at rest and under pre-exam stress during the 1995–2004 period. The arterial pressure, the biological age, and the concentration of nitrates and nitrites were measured in various trimesters of an individual year (the period from one birthday to the next birthday). The arterial pressure in young women was found to change insignificantly throughout a year, while in young men the pressure was higher and definitely increased in trimester IV (i.e., over 10–12 months after their birthday). The concentration of nitrates and nitrites in the young men decreased from trimester II to IV. In young women, the tendency of this characteristic to increase over trimester IV and to negatively correlate (r = −0.34) with the systolic arterial pressure level measured in this group was observed. Among young men and women with equal arterial pressure values, the concentrations of nitrites and nitrates were significantly higher in women. An increase in stress reactivity, as well as pre-exam stress, was shown to cause a decrease in the concentration of nitrites and nitrates; this decrease was significantly less pronounced in young women. The biological age of young men was higher than of young women and increased throughout trimester IV. In young men, the biological age negatively correlated (r = −0.60) with the concentration of nitrites and nitrates. With the “stress theory” of aging suggested by P. Parsons in 1995 and the data obtained in this work taken into account, nitric oxide can be considered as an “anti-aging” molecule.
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Original Russian Text © N.A. Barbarash, D.Yu. Kuvshinov, M.V. Chichilenko, A.O. Kolesnikov, 2011, published in Uspekhi Gerontologii, 2011, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 256–259.
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Barbarash, N.A., Kuvshinov, D.Y., Chichilenko, M.V. et al. Nitric oxide and human aging. Adv Gerontol 2, 71–74 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079057012010043
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079057012010043