Plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine, L-arginine and left ventricular structure and function in a community-based sample.
OBJECTIVE
Increasing evidence indicates that cardiac structure and function are modulated by the nitric oxide (NO) system. Elevated plasma concentrations of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA; a competitive inhibitor of NO synthase) have been reported in patients with end-stage renal disease. It is unclear if circulating ADMA and L-arginine levels are related to cardiac structure and function in the general population.


METHODS
We related plasma ADMA and L-arginine (the amino acid precursor of NO) to echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) mass, left atrial (LA) size and fractional shortening (FS) using multivariable linear regression analyses in 1919 Framingham Offspring Study participants (mean age 57 years, 58% women).


RESULTS
Overall, neither ADMA or L-arginine, nor their ratio was associated with LV mass, LA size and FS in multivariable models (p>0.10 for all). However, we observed effect modification by obesity of the relations of ADMA and LA size (p for interaction p=0.04): ADMA was positively related to LA size in obese individuals (adjusted-p=0.0004 for trend across ADMA quartiles) but not in non-obese people.


CONCLUSIONS
In our large community-based sample, plasma ADMA and l-arginine concentrations were not related to cardiac structure or function. The observation of positive relations of LA size and ADMA in obese individuals warrants confirmation.
Lieb
Wolfgang
W
Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, Framingham, MA 01702-5803, USA.
Benndorf
Ralf A
RA
Benjamin
Emelia J
EJ
Sullivan
Lisa M
LM
Maas
Renke
R
Xanthakis
Vanessa
V
Schwedhelm
Edzard
E
Aragam
Jayashri
J
Schulze
Friedrich
F
Böger
Rainer H
RH
Vasan
Ramachandran S
RS
D000368:Aged; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology
C018524:N,N-dimethylarginine; D001120:Arginine