Health‐associated reference values for arginine, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) measured with high‐performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

Objective. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide production. It has been implicated in various pathological processes, especially processes involving the cardiovascular system. Plasma concentration of ADMA (p‐ADMA) has been measured in several studies with different techniques, and a wide range of normal values has been published. With use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection, we have established health‐associated reference values for p‐ADMA, p‐arginine, p‐SDMA and the p‐arginine/p‐ADMA and p‐arginine/p‐SDMA ratios. Material and methods. Blood samples were taken from 238 blood donors (112 F and 126 M). HPLC was used to analyse arginine, ADMA and SDMA. Reference values are presented as 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles estimated by the bootstrap method. Results. The reference interval for p‐ADMA is 0.40–0.77 µmol/L for the whole population, 0.41–0.79 µmol/L for men, 0.38–0.73 µmol/L for women 45 years or less, and 0.41–0.84 µmol/L for women >45 years. Conclusions. Age affects p‐ADMA in healthy women, but not in men.

• Arginine
• asymmetric dimethylarginine
• blood donors
• nitric oxide
• symmetric dimethylarginine
• reference values