Homoarginine - An independent marker of mortality in heart failure

摘要

Chronic heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome with different underlying molecular mechanisms. Nitric oxide (NO) is an important modulator of cardiac function and dysregulation of the NO pathway has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic heart failure [1-3]. Due to its structural similarity to the NO synthase (NOS) substrate, L-arginine, the amino acid homoarginine has been proposed to act as an alternative substrate for the formation of NO [4]. Clinical data support an association of homoarginine to cerebro- and cardiovascular diseases. In patients subjected to coronary angiography, low homoarginine plasma concentrations were found to be associated with cardiovascular (CV) and all-cause mortality [5]. The aim of the present study was to analyze plasma homoarginine in patients with chronic heart failure either due to dilated (DCM) or ischemic (ICM) cardiomyopathy in order to assess its prognostic value.