Departments of Clinical Chemistry Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, FIN-70210 Kuopio, Finland.
Eur J Endocrinol. 2010 Feb;162(2):259-65. doi: 10.1530/EJE-09-0658. Epub 2009 Nov 24.
The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels during different menstrual cycle phases in young adult women with or without oral contraceptive (OC) use.
The subjects (n=1079) originated from a large population-based, prospective cohort study conducted in Finland. Plasma ADMA, symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), L-arginine, C-reactive protein, creatinine, and brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) were measured. The use of OCs and menstrual cycle phase were determined from a questionnaire.
In non-OC users, ADMA (P=0.017), L-arginine (P=0.002), and ADMA/SDMA ratio (P<0.001) were significantly lower in the luteal phase than in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Non-OC users also had significantly higher ADMA and SDMA concentrations (P<0.001) and lower L-arginine concentrations (P<0.001) compared to OC users of estrogen-containing pills. Progestin-only contraceptive pills (POPs) did not lower the ADMA level, but maintained it at the same level as in non-OC users. In OC users, there were no significant differences found in ADMA, FMD, or FMD% across menstrual cycle, whereas brachial artery diameter was significantly more decreased in the luteal phase (P=0.013) than in the follicular phase.
We observed that the circulating ADMA concentration varies across the menstrual cycle in young women not using OCs, and women on OCs displayed significantly lower circulating ADMA concentrations than non-OC users, though this was not the case with POP contraception.
本研究旨在评估口服避孕药（OC）使用者和非使用者的年轻成年女性在不同月经周期阶段一氧化氮合酶抑制剂不对称二甲基精氨酸（ADMA）水平的变化。
受试者（n=1079）来自芬兰一项大型基于人群的前瞻性队列研究。测量了血浆 ADMA、对称二甲基精氨酸（SDMA）、L-精氨酸、C 反应蛋白、肌酐和肱动脉血流介导的扩张（FMD）。OC 使用情况和月经周期阶段通过问卷确定。
在非 OC 使用者中，ADMA（P=0.017）、L-精氨酸（P=0.002）和 ADMA/SDMA 比值（P<0.001）在黄体期明显低于卵泡期。与雌激素含量丸的 OC 使用者相比，非 OC 使用者的 ADMA 和 SDMA 浓度也显著更高（P<0.001），而 L-精氨酸浓度显著更低（P<0.001）。仅孕激素避孕药（POP）不会降低 ADMA 水平，但将其维持在与非 OC 使用者相同的水平。在 OC 使用者中，ADMA、FMD 或 FMD%在月经周期内没有差异，而在黄体期，肱动脉直径明显减小（P=0.013）比卵泡期。
我们观察到，在不使用 OC 的年轻女性中，循环 ADMA 浓度在月经周期中发生变化，而使用 OC 的女性的循环 ADMA 浓度明显低于非 OC 使用者，尽管 POP 避孕并非如此。
