Unilateral ligature-induced periodontitis affects rat aorta vasomotriciy.
Endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation and adrenergic vasoconstriction are impaired.
Endothelium removal, iNOS and COX-2 blockade restore the impaired vasomotricity.
No periodontal bacteria were detected in the aorta.
Aorta from rats with periodontitis show decreased eNOS and increased iNOS and COX-2.