Evidence mapPaperPMID 41275033Full record

ArticleClinical rheumatology2026

Asymmetric dimethylarginine and vascular injury in rheumatoid arthritis, from capillaries to large vessels: results from a cross-sectional study.

Elena Angeloudi, Panagiota Anyfanti, Eleni Gavriilaki, Eleni Pagkopoulou, Kyriaki-Vasileia Spanou, Eleni Bekiari, Michael Doumas, Vasiliki Dimitriadou, George D Kitas, Theodoros Dimitroulas

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Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Elena AngeloudiFourth Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box: 54642, Thessaloniki, Greece. elena-angeloudi@hotmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3492-7915
Panagiota AnyfantiThird Department of Internal Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni GavriilakiSecond Propaedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni PagkopoulouFourth Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box: 54642, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Kyriaki-Vasileia SpanouMedical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni BekiariSecond Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Michael DoumasSecond Propaedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Vasiliki DimitriadouFourth Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box: 54642, Thessaloniki, Greece.
George D KitasDepartment of Rheumatology, Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley, DY1 2HQ, UK.
Theodoros DimitroulasFourth Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box: 54642, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and marker of endothelial dysfunction, has been implicated in inflammation-driven vascular injury. However, the association between ADMA and micro- and macrovascular function in RA remains unclear.

methodsPatients with RA underwent nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) to assess microvascular alterations in the dermal capillary network. Macrovascular function was evaluated with well-known markers of arterial stiffness [carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index], and subclinical atherosclerosis [carotid intima-media thickness]. Serum ADMA was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

resultsA total of 103 consecutive RA patients (61.1 ± 11.6 years, 76.7% female) were studied with median disease duration 6 (12) years. Patients were under methotrexate (54.4%), corticosteroids (35.9%) and biologics (38.8%). A considerable portion had been previously diagnosed with hypertension (38.8%) and dyslipidemia (31.1%), and 41.7% were smokers. ADMA was not significantly associated with cardiovascular risk factors or markers of vascular injury in the total cohort. However, in the subgroup of patients not receiving cardiovascular medication (n = 48), ADMA significantly correlated with PWV, venous limb diameter and capillary tortuosity, even after adjustment for other variables in multivariate analysis.

conclusionsCirculating ADMA was not associated with markers of vascular impairment in a real-life RA cohort presenting with various treatments and comorbidities. However, ADMA independently correlated with arterial stiffness and NVC abnormalities in the subgroup of RA patients not on cardiovascular medications. These findings are consistent with a role of impaired NO homeostasis in vascular injury in RA. Key Points • This study is the first to investigate the association between circulating ADMA levels and both micro- and macrovascular injury in rheumatoid arthritis using nailfold videocapillaroscopy and markers of arterial stiffness and subclinical atherosclerosis. • Significant correlations between ADMA, pulse wave velocity, and nailfold videocapillaroscopic abnormalities were observed in patients not receiving cardiovascular medications. • These findings suggest that impaired nitric oxide metabolism may contribute to peripheral microangiopathy and vascular dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis.

Indexed as

ArginineArthritis, RheumatoidCapillariesVascular System InjuriesAgedBiomarkersCarotid Intima-Media ThicknessCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMicroscopic AngioscopyMiddle AgedPulse Wave AnalysisVascular StiffnessArginineBiomarkersN,N-dimethylarginineADMAArterial stiffnessEndothelial dysfunctionNailfold videocapillaroscopy

Identifiers

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Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.