Furthermore, acetylcholine induced an increase of VASP phosphorylation at serine 239 in aortic tissue of control rats, but not in that of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes; owing to the experimental design, this phenomenon has been attributed to the marked reduction of the acetylcholine-induced NO production in the vascular endothelium [41]. The gene discussed is VASP; the disease is diabetes mellitus.