The asymmetric dimethylarginine level is associated with the predicted stroke risk in japanese women

Aim: asymmetric dimethylarginine (adma) has recently been investigated as a risk marker for cardio-and cerebrovascular diseases. however,it is not currently known whether the adma levels are related to the risk of stroke in japanese women. methods: we examined 192 japanese women (mean age,55±9 years,range,40-80 years) who underwent health examinations. the adma level and various vascular risk factors of each subject were assessed,and the predicted 10-year stroke risk was calculated using the point-based prediction model provided by the japan public health center study. results: in a correlation coefficient analysis,age was found to be the only factor significantly correlated with the adma level. a significant odds ratio (or) for a high predicted stroke risk (10-year risk,≥5%) was noted in the highest adma level tertile (6.24; 95% ci,1.13-34.5; p=0.036) compared with the lowest tertile,after adjusting for potential confounding factors. a significant or for a high predicted stroke risk was also found for each increment in the adma tertile and standard deviation (adjusted or,2.42; 95% ci,1.09-5.34; p=0.029; and 2.51; 95% ci,1.24-5.11; p=0.011,respectively). conclusions: an elevated adma level is significantly associated with an increased predicted stroke risk,suggesting that measuring the adma level is useful for identifying japanese women with an elevated stroke risk.