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on September 8, 2003

Circulation. 2003
Published online before print September 8, 2003, doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000091083.61609.DF
A more recent version of this article appeared on September 30, 2003
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Submitted on March 31, 2003
Revised on July 16, 2003
Accepted on July 17, 2003

Estrogen Stimulates Dimethylarginine Dimethylaminohydrolase Activity and the Metabolism of Asymmetric Dimethylarginine

Desmond P. Holden MRCOG, PhD, Judith E. Cartwright PhD, Stephen S. Nussey FRCP, DPhil, and Guy St J. Whitley PhD*

From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (D.P.H.), Royal Sussex County Hospital, Eastern Road, Brighton, and Departments of Biochemistry and Immunology (J.E.C., G.S.J.W.) and Oncology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, and Medicine (S.S.N.), St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: g.whitley{at}sghms.ac.uk.

Background--Experimental evidence suggests that estrogens stimulate the production of nitric oxide (NO) by vascular endothelial cells. This effect has been attributed to increased expression and enzymatic activity of both the constitutive and inducible isoforms of NO synthase. In this study, we have investigated whether estrogens regulate the metabolism or release of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of NO synthase.

Methods and Results--The concentration of ADMA in the plasma of 15 postmenopausal women was 0.722±0.04 µmol/L (mean±SEM). Two weeks after subcutaneous implantation with estradiol, there was an increase in plasma estradiol concentration from 0.693±0.075 to 0.81±87 nmol/L, which was accompanied by a significant fall in plasma ADMA concentration to 0.588±0.03 µmol/L (P=0.006). Human and murine endothelial cell lines previously cultured in estrogen-free medium and then exposed to 17{beta}-estradiol showed a dose-dependent decrease in the release of ADMA. This reached statistical significance at 10-14 mol/L 17{beta}-estradiol and was accompanied by a corresponding increase in the activity of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), an enzyme that catalyzes the metabolism of ADMA.

Conclusions--We have demonstrated that estrogens can alter the catabolism and release of DDAH ADMA in vitro and reduce the circulating concentration in vivo. We therefore propose that increased activity and the subsequent fall in ADMA could contribute to the positive effect of estrogen on NO synthesis.


Key words: endothelium • nitric oxide • cardiovascular diseases • asymmetric dimethylarginine




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