title: Acetylation of asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine: an undercharacterized pathway of metabolism of endogenous methylarginines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) are associated with cardiovascular and renal diseases. We and others have shown that both ADMA and SDMA can be Nα-acetylated to form asymmetric and symmetric Nα-acetyldimethylarginine (Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA). The current study further investigated this undercharacterized metabolic pathway.
  
  
  METHODS
  ADMA and SDMA were infused in C57/BL6 mice for 3 days using osmotic minipumps. Half of the mice underwent bilateral nephrectomy 24 h before completion of the infusion. Plasma and tissue levels of Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA were detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ADMA and SDMA infusion resulted in a 3.6-fold increase in plasma Ac-ADMA and a 21-fold increase in plasma Ac-SDMA levels, respectively. Plasma Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA levels were dramatically increased after bilateral nephrectomy. The highest baseline tissue concentrations of Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA in wild-type mice were detected in the liver, kidney, small intestine, pancreas and spleen. Incubation of the tissue lysates with ADMA and SDMA resulted in increased levels of the corresponding Nα-acetylated products only in the liver, kidney and small intestine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that overload of ADMA or SDMA leads to an increase in plasma Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA levels. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis that Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA are formed directly from ADMA and SDMA in vivo. The increase in plasma Ac-ADMA and Ac-SDMA concentrations after bilateral nephrectomy suggests that both compounds are predominantly eliminated via the kidneys. We demonstrated that acetylation of ADMA and SDMA occurs primarily in the liver, kidney and small intestine.
authors.affiliation: University Center for Vascular Medicine and Division of Angiology, Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Roman N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Rodionov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martens-Lobenhoffer
authors.affiliation: University Center for Vascular Medicine and Division of Angiology, Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brilloff
authors.affiliation: Department of General Physiology, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Dmitry V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Burdin
authors.affiliation: University Center for Vascular Medicine and Division of Angiology, Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jarzebska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Highly Pure Biopreparations, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Anton V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Demyanov
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hohenstein
authors.affiliation: University Center for Vascular Medicine and Division of Angiology, Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bode-Böger
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009392:Nephrectomy; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational
chemical_list: C024917:symmetric dimethylarginine; C018524:N,N-dimethylarginine; D001120:Arginine
keywords: ADMA; Ac-ADMA; Ac-SDMA; SDMA; acetylation; nephrectomy