Is there a correlation between plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels and atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes patients in Turkey?

Objective: Atherosclerosis is very common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). We aimed to investigate the relationship between asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) which is known as ‘an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase’ and atherosclerosis among patients with a diagnosis of type 2 DM.
Material and Methods: A total of 85 patients with a diagnosis of type 2 DM (48.2% [n: 41] male) with a mean age of 55.73±8.78 years were enrolled in this trial. Plasma levels of ADMA, and laboratory parameters such as lipid profile and HbA1c were evaluated. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of atherosclerosis was measured. The patients were classified into two groups as cases with
high and low ADMA levels.
Results: No statistically significant correlation was found between serum ADMA levels and total cholesterol (r=0.045; p=0.684), triglyceride (r=-0.067; p=0.544), LDL cholesterol (r=0.142; p=0.194) and HDL cholesterol (r=0.085; p=0.085). A statistically significant correlation was determined between serum ADMA level and HbA1c (r=0.376; p=0.001) and between serum ADMA level and carotid-intima media thickness (r=0.321; p=0.003).
Conclusions: Serum ADMA level is correlated with carotid IMT. Evaluation of ADMA levels in type 2 DM patients may be helpful in predicting atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary artery disease.

Türkiye’deki tip 2 diyabet hastalarýnda serum asimetrik dimetilarjinin düzeyleri ile ateroskleroz arasýnda bir korelasyon var mýdýr?

Amaç: Ateroskleroz diabetes mellitus (DM) hastalarýnda çok yaygýndýr. Biz tip 2 DM hastalarýnda ‘endojen nitrik oksit sentaz inhibitörü’ olarak bilinen asimetrik dimetil arjinin (ADMA) ile ateroskleroz arasýnda bir iliþki olup olmadýðýný araþtýrdýk.
Gereç ve Yöntemler: Tip 2 DM tanýsý alan, yaþ ortalamasý 55.73±8.78 yýl olan toplam 85 hasta (%48.2 [n: 41] erkek) çalýþmaya dahil edildi. ADMA plazma seviyeleri, lipid profili, HbA1c gibi laboratuvar parametreleri deðerlendirildi. Aterosklerozun bir göstergesi olan karotis intima-media kalýnlýðý (IMT) ölçüldü. Hastalar, yüksek ve düþük ADMA düzeyleri olarak iki gruba ayrýldý.
Bulgular: Ýstatistiksel olarak serum ADMA düzeyleri ile total kolesterol (r=0.045; p=0.684), trigliserid (r=-0.067; p=0.544), LDL kolesterol (r=0.142; p=0.194) ve HDL kolesterol (r=0.085; p=0.085) arasýnda anlamlý iliþki saptanmadý. ADMA düzeyi ile HbA1c arasýnda (r=0.376; p=0.001) ve serum ADMA düzeyi ve karotis-intima media kalýnlýðý arasýnda (r=0.321; p=0.003) istatistiksel olarak anlamlý bir
iliþki saptandý.
Sonuç: Serum ADMA düzeyi karotis IMT ile iliþkilidir. Tip 2 DM hastalarýnda ADMA düzeylerinin deðerlendirilmesi koroner arter hastalýðý gibi aterosklerotik hastalýklarý öngörmede yararlý olabilir.