title: Urinary excretion of methylarginine in human disease.
abstract: Methylated amino acids are excreted in urine upon degradation of some tissue proteins. The urinary excretion ratios of NG,N'G-dimethylarginine (syn-DMA) and NG,NG-dimethylarginine (unsym-DMA) were studied in healthy adults and in patients with various diseases. The normal ratio of sym- to unsym-DMA in urine was 0.98 and ranged from 0.71 to 1.33; ratios were not significantly different in multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular accident, cancer, and systemic lupus erythematosus. However, patients with liver, disease, including chronic active hepatitis, were found on average to have a significantly altered ratio of 0.79, range 0.49-1.30, owing to an increase in the excretion of unsym-DMA. Hence measurements of the urinary excretion of dimethylarginine could become a useful aid in assessing recovery of liver cells in patients with chronic liver disease.
mesh_terms: D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000652:urine; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000652:urine; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D001120:Arginine