Asymmetric dimethylarginine correlates with measures of disease severity, major adverse cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease

Abstract

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with major cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Abnormalities in nitric oxide metabolism due to excess of the NO synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) may be pathogenic in PAD. We explored the association between ADMA levels and markers of atherosclerosis, function, and prognosis. A total of 133 patients with symptomatic PAD were enrolled. Ankle-brachial index (ABI), walking time, vascular function measures (arterial compliance and flow-mediated vasodilatation) and plasma ADMA level were assessed for each patient at baseline. ADMA correlated inversely with ABI (r = -0.238, p = 0.003) and walking time (r = -0.255, p = 0.001), ..