Symmetric Dimethylarginine is Altered in Patients After Myocardial Infarction and Predicts Adverse Outcomes.

purposeAcute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Damage to the endothelium is the earliest event in atherothrombosis, including AMI. Nitric oxide (NO), an endothelium-derived compound, protects the vasculature from damage. This study evaluated whether an association exists between plasma concentration of endogenous NO-related pathway metabolites linked to AMI and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after AMI.

methodsWe compared plasma concentrations of NO-related pathway metabolites in patients after AMI (n=60) and healthy controls (n=27) and investigated the prognostic value of these metabolites for post-AMI MACE development over a median of 3.5-years. In search of biomarkers, we compared plasma concentrations of dimethylarginines (ADMA, SDMA), citrulline, arginine and ornithine using ultra performance liquid chromatograph coupled with a mass spectrometer.

resultsPatients after AMI had higher concentrations of dimethylarginines, compared to controls (p=0.0068, p<0.0001, respectively). Conversely, the concentration of citrulline was lower in the AMI group (p=0.0006). The concentration of SDMA was higher in patients who developed MACE than in those who did not (p=0.015). SDMA was the only independent predictor of MACE in multivariate analysis (p=0.023). There was an intermediate, negative correlation between plasma SDMA level and platelet reactivity (r=-0.33, p=0.02).

conclusionPlasma concentration of dimethylarginines differs between patients with AMI and healthy volunteers. The study's novel finding is that SDMA is an independent predictor of MACE during a 3.5 year follow-up period after AMI.