title: Urinary excretion of NG-dimethylarginines in multiple sclerosis patients: preliminary observations.
abstract: The concentrations of NG,N'G-dimethylarginine [Me2(sym)Arg] and NG,NG-dimethylarginine [Me2(asym)Arg] were determined in the urine samples from multiple sclerosis (MS) and control subjects, using a highly sensitive HPLC post-column o-phthaldialdehyde derivatization method. The presence of approximately equal amounts of both dimethylarginine isomers, of Arg concentration nearly half of Me2Arg, and of the undetectable amount of NG-monomethylarginine were the characteristic urinary excretion pattern in all human samples studied. The urinary excretion of Me2(asym)Arg and Me2(sym)Arg from MS (n = 9) and control (n = 7) were analyzed: the mean values from the samples were approximately 20% (for all MS) and 33% (for chronic-progressive MS) lower than those from the control for both dimethylarginine-derivatives when compared to the respective compounds. Although there were contrasting trends between controls and MS patients in the relationship of urinary NG-dimethylarginines and myelin basic protein like material (MBPLM), the correlations were not significant. Differences in the ratios of the concentrations of the two dimethyl derivatives, Me2(sym)Arg/Me2(asym)Arg, were not significantly different between MS and control groups. These findings warrant further investigation of possible links between urinary excretion of NG-dimethylarginine and MBPLM in MS. The possible significance of myelin metabolism in relation to urinary NG-dimethylarginines in MS is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rawal
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000652:urine*; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: C024917:symmetric dimethylarginine; C018524:N,N-dimethylarginine; D001120:Arginine