Unchanged plasma levels of dimethylarginines and nitric oxide in chronic hepatitis C

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Paloma Llucha, Belén Cortinab, José M. Vilab, Gloria Segarrab, Maria D. Mauriciob, Juan A. Del Olmoa, Miguel A. Serraa, Salvador Lluch MDb* & José M. Rodrigoaa Servicio de Hepatologia, Hospital Clinico Universitario, Valencia, Spainb Departamento de Fisiologia, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain† Correspondence: Salvador Lluch, Departamento de Fisiologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valencia, Blasco Ibañez 17, ES-46010, Valencia, Spain, +34 96 864 644, +34 96 3864 642 lluchs@post.uv.esObjective. Previous studies have shown that asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) and nitric oxide (NO) play a prominent role in liver dysfunction. The objective of this study was to determine whether plasma levels of ADMA, SDMA and NO are altered in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Material and methods. Plasma levels of ADMA, SDMA and NO (nitrite plus nitrate) were measured in 22 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 24 patients with sustained virologic response after treatment with peginterferon plus ribavirin. Seven healthy volunteers served as controls. Results. Plasma levels of ADMA, SDMA and NO were not significantly different between groups: chronic hepatitis C, ADMA 0.55±0.06, SDMA 0.22±0.03, NO 36.3±5.9 µmol/l; treated patients, ADMA 0.60±0.15, SDMA 0.31±0.05, NO 36.1±5.5 µmol/l; controls, ADMA 0.65±0.08, SDMA 0.28±0.05, NO 40.7±8.9 µmol/l). Conclusions. Our results show that plasma NO, ADMA and SDMA concentrations are not changed in patients with chronic hepatitis C without superimposed signs of acute inflammatory activity. Furthermore, no significant differences in plasma values of NO and dimethylarginines were observed between the group of untreated patients and the group of patients treated with interferon plus ribavirin