The human liver clears both asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine

Asymmetric (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) inhibit production of nitric oxide. The concentration of both dimethylarginines is regulated by urinary excretion, although ADMA, but not SDMA, is also subject to degradation by dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase, which is highly expressed in the liver but also present in the kidney. The exact roles of the human liver and kidney in the metabolism of dimethylarginines are currently unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate renal and hepatic handling of ADMA and SDMA in detail in 24 patients undergoing hepatic surgery. To calculate net organ fluxes and fractional extraction (FE) rates, blood was collected from an arterial line, the portal vein, hepatic vein, and renal vein, and blood flow of the hepatic artery, portal vein, and renal vein was determined using Doppler ultrasound techniques. Results showed a significant net uptake (median [IQR]) of ADMA in both the liver (9.6 nmol/min [5.6-13.2]) and the kidney (12.1 nmol/min [1.3-17.1]). SDMA uptake was present not only in the kidney (12.7 nmol/min [3.5-25.4]), but also in the liver (7.7 nmol/min [2.8-16.4]). FE rates of ADMA for the liver and kidney were 5.0% (3.5%-7.4%) and 8.4% (1.3%-13.9%), respectively. For SDMA, hepatic and renal FE rates were 3.4% (2.1%-7.5%) and 12.5% (3.6%-16.2%), respectively. In conclusion, this study gives a detailed description of the hepatic and renal elimination of dimethylarginines and shows that the clearing of SDMA is not only confined to the kidney, but the human liver also takes up substantial amounts of SDMA from the portal and systemic circulation.