Relationship between serum arginase I and l-arginine or exhaled nitric oxide in asthma

Abstract

The relationship between serum arginase I and serum l-arginine or fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) was evaluated cross-sectionally in asthmatic patients. No sex difference was observed in the serum mean levels of arginase I and l-arginine or FENO. Arginase I and FENO were higher in patients 60 or younger years than in those over 60 years. Asthmatic patients were divided into three groups: no steroid therapy, inhalation steroid therapy, and oral steroid therapy. Arginase I, FENO and high-sensitivity-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were significantly lower in the inhalation steroid therapy group than in the no steroid therapy group. Correlations were observed between arginase I and FENO, l-arginine, hs-CRP, WBC, and age, and also between FENO and IgE, WBC, and age. A logistic regression analysis revealed the positive association of arginase I with FENO, and the negative association of l-arginine. FENO was positively associated with arginase I and IgE. These results indicated that serum arginase I might influence serum levels of l-arginine and FENO, and that IgE might influence FENO in asthmatic patients.

Keywords:

• Arginase I
• clinical study
• fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO)
• l-arginine

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our appreciation to Dr. Kenji Ikeda for his support of blood sample of asthma patients.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest related to this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI [Grant Number JP26670331].