Previous literature has reported that tumour necrosis factor (TNF) not only has a direct impact on endothelial dysfunction (by down-regulating endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression), but is also associated with endothelial cell apoptosis by modulating the interactions of cell apoptosis suppressors and inducers [11, 12]. Here, NOS3 is linked to endothelial dysfunction.