NOS3 and atherosclerosis: Lox-1 upregulation is observed in atherosclerosis and linked to oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions leading to inhibition of Nos3 enzymatic activity via increased C-reactive protein production (Stapleton et al., 2010; Stancel et al., 2016) and, consequently, microvessel dysfunction in the periphery (Lubrano and Balzan, 2016).