Department of Laboratory Medicine, Wusong Branch, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200940, China.
Shanghai AB Sciex Analytical Instrument Trading Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 200050, China.
Amino Acids. 2022 Aug;54(8):1215-1227. doi: 10.1007/s00726-022-03177-x. Epub 2022 Jun 26.
L-homoarginine (hARG) is involved in nitric oxide biosynthesis, but its role and concentration in preeclampsia (PE) have not been fully revealed. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a feasible clinical assay to quantify serum hARG, arginine (ARG), asymmetric (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginines (SDMA) levels by LC-MS/MS and investigate their differences at different stages of pregnancy with or without preeclampsia. Serum samples were collected from 84 pregnant women without complications (controls), 84 with mild preeclampsia (MPE), and 81 with severe preeclampsia (SPE) at various gestation stages (before the 20th week, during the 20th-28th week or after the 28th week of gestation). No significant difference in ARG levels was observed between PE and controls at any stage (P > 0.05). The serum hARG levels and hARG/ADMA ratios of MPE before the 20th week were higher than those of controls (P < 0.001). ADMA levels of MPE were higher than those of controls during the 20th-28th week (P < 0.01). SDMA levels of SPE were higher than those of MPE (P < 0.01) and controls (P < 0.05) after the 28th week. Elevated serum hARG before the 20th week was identified as an independent predictor for PE (OR = 1.478, 95% CI 1.120-1.950). ROC curve analysis showed serum hARG before the 20th week had a good potential to predict MPE (AUC = 0.875, 95% CI 0.759-0.948). In conclusion, our study indicated that elevated serum hARG and dimethylarginine levels detected by LC-MS/MS might serve as potential biomarkers for the early prediction of PE.
L-高精氨酸（hARG）参与一氧化氮的生物合成，但它在子痫前期（PE）中的作用和浓度尚未完全揭示。本研究旨在开发和验证一种可行的临床检测方法，通过 LC-MS/MS 定量检测血清 hARG、精氨酸（ARG）、不对称二甲基精氨酸（ADMA）和对称二甲基精氨酸（SDMA）水平，并研究其在不同妊娠阶段（无 PE 组、轻度 PE 组和重度 PE 组）的差异。在不同妊娠阶段（妊娠 20 周前、妊娠 20-28 周和妊娠 28 周后），采集了 84 名无并发症的孕妇（对照组）、84 名轻度子痫前期患者（MPE）和 81 名重度子痫前期患者的血清样本。在任何阶段，PE 患者与对照组的 ARG 水平均无显著差异（P>0.05）。妊娠 20 周前，MPE 患者的血清 hARG 水平和 hARG/ADMA 比值均高于对照组（P<0.001）。妊娠 20-28 周，MPE 患者的 ADMA 水平高于对照组（P<0.01）。妊娠 28 周后，SPE 患者的 SDMA 水平高于 MPE 患者（P<0.01）和对照组（P<0.05）。妊娠 20 周前血清 hARG 升高被确定为 PE 的独立预测因子（OR=1.478，95%CI 1.120-1.950）。ROC 曲线分析表明，妊娠 20 周前的血清 hARG 对 MPE 有较好的预测潜力（AUC=0.875，95%CI 0.759-0.948）。综上所述，本研究表明，LC-MS/MS 检测到的血清 hARG 和二甲基精氨酸水平升高可能成为预测 PE 的早期潜在生物标志物。
