Asymmetric dimethyl arginine levels in chronic hemodialysis patients

To investigate serum asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) levels in maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients and to assess their potential correlations with C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, and cholesterol levels as the established cardiovascular and nutritional parameters.

Forty-nine patients on maintenance HD treatment and 22 healthy volunteers with similar age and sex characteristics were recruited into the study. Serum albumin, CRP, creatinine, calcium, phosphate, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, hemoglobin, white blood cell counts, and serum ADMA levels were measured.

HD patients had significantly higher ADMA levels compared with healthy controls (0.51 ± 0.25 vs. 0.35 ± 0.15, P = 0.002). While white blood cell counts and body mass index values were similar between the 2 groups, CRP and LDL cholesterol were significantly higher and albumin and HDL cholesterol were significantly lower in HD patients compared with healthy controls. ADMA concentrations were positively correlated with mean age (P = 0.02, r = 0.360), LDL cholesterol levels (P = 0.006, r = 0.325), and CRP levels (P = 0.02, r = 0.268) and negatively correlated with serum albumin levels (P = 0.005, r = -0.331).

ADMA levels were found to be higher in HD patients and were shown to be correlated with preestablished inflammatory and nutritional biomarkers.