High plasma dimethylarginine levels are associated with adverse clinical outcome after stroke

AIM: Increased levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, have been observed in patients with cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis and in patients with a history of stroke. The role of ADMA and its analogue symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) in acute ischemic stroke is yet unclear. We hypothesized that plasma dimethylarginine levels increase in the hyper-acute phase after ischemic stroke and that their time course is related to stroke outcome.

METHODS: Plasma dimethylarginines ADMA and SDMA and L-arginine levels were measured in 67 patients at 6, 12, 24 hours, as well as 3 and 7 days after stroke onset using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS). Data were compared to control data from 32 age-adjusted healthy volunteers. Clinical outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days after stroke.

RESULTS: At baseline, plasma ADMA levels were higher in stroke patients than in controls, whereas plasma SDMA and L-arginine levels did not differ from control subjects. The time courses of ADMA and SDMA were related to the clinical outcome. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that ADMA levels of ≥ 0.566 µmol/L at day 3, ≥ 0.530 µmol/L at day 7 and SDMA levels of ≥ 0.59 µmol/L at 24 hours predicted an unfavorable clinical outcome.

CONCLUSIONS: An increase of both ADMA and SDMA plasma levels within the first 72 hours after the onset of ischemic stroke predicts a poor outcome.