Plasma homoarginine (hArg) and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Is homoarginine a cardiovascular corrective in rheumatoid arthritis, an anti-ADMA?

摘要

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality is profoundly increased [1]. The risk of heart failure in RA is almost twice that of the general population. The increased risk cannot be entirely explained by traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Instead, blood vessels may be damaged through inflammation and immune-mediated processes [2-4]. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a cardiovascular risk factor and plays a particular, not yet fully understood role in RA [ 5-7 ]. ADMA is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, and this mechanism may be one possible explanation for ADMA's involvement in CVD. However, in a cohort of 201 RA patients, ADMA was not associated with subendocardial viability ratio [8], a surrogate marker of coronary microvascular perfusion.