NOS3 and endothelial dysfunction: Indeed, the presence of arterial stiffness has previously been shown in rodent models of endothelial dysfunction by the inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) with N(G)-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) or by a genetic eNOS knock-out which causes hypertension and increased carotid-femoral PWV (Isabelle et al., 2012; Leloup et al., 2014).