Endothelial Dysfunction May Link Interatrial Septal Abnormalities and MTHFR-Inherited Defects to Cryptogenic Stroke Predisposition

We explored the significance of the L-Arginine/asymmetric dimethylarginine (L-Arg/ADMA) ratio as a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction in stroke patients. To this aim, we evaluated the correlation, in terms of severity, between the degree of endothelial dysfunction (by L-Arg/ADMA ratio), the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype, and the interatrial septum (IAS) phenotype in subject with a history of stroke. L-Arg, ADMA, and MTHFR genotypes were evaluated; the IAS phenotype was assessed by transesophageal echocardiography. Patients were grouped according to the severity of IAS defects and the residual enzymatic activity of MTHFR-mutated variants, and values of L-Arg/ADMA ratio were measured in each subgroup. Of 57 patients, 10 had a septum integrum (SI), 38 a patent foramen ovale (PFO), and 9 an ostium secundum (OS). The L-Arg/ADMA ratio differed across septum phenotypes ( ≤ 0.01), and was higher in SI than in PFO or OS patients ( ≤ 0.05, ≤ 0.01, respectively). In the PFO subgroup a negative correlation was found between the L-Arg/ADMA ratio and PFO tunnel length/height ratio ( ≤ 0.05; r = - 0.37; R = 0.14). Interestingly, the L-Arg/ADMA ratio varied across MTHFR genotypes ( ≤ 0.0001) and was lower in subgroups carrying the most impaired enzyme with respect to patients carrying the conservative MTHFR ( ≤ 0.0001, ≤ 0.05, respectively). Consistently, OS patients carried the most dysfunctional MTHFR genotypes, whereas SI patients the least ones. A low L-Arg/ADMA ratio correlates with impaired activity of MTHFR and with the jeopardized IAS phenotype along a severity spectrum encompassing OS, PFO with long/tight tunnel, PFO with short/large tunnel, and SI. This infers that genetic MTHFR defects may underlie endothelial dysfunction-related IAS abnormalities, and predispose to a cryptogenic stroke. Our findings emphasize the role of the L-Arg/ADMA ratio as a reliable marker of stroke susceptibility in carriers of IAS abnormalities, and suggest its potential use both as a diagnostic tool and as a decision aid for therapy.