Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P50583 (asymmetrical)
 12,197 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 25-year-old female patient with an approximate 10-year-history of slowly progressive muscle weakness was diagnosed as a manifesting carrier of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) because her muscle biopsy showed scattered fibers with no dystrophin on immunohistochemical staining. She had no family history of neuromuscular disorders. She was in good health until about 14 years of age, when she developed muscle weakness and atrophy of the extremities with slow aggravation. On admission at the age of 25 years, she had asymmetrical muscle atrophy in the lower extremities; the left femur, right femur, left crus, and right crus measured 36.0, 40.5, 31.5, and 35.5 cm in circumference, respectively. However, the muscle weakness of the extremities was symmetrical with no laterality, and the proximal muscles in the lower extremities were predominantly affected to 3+/5 MMT test. She walked with a mild wadding manner and stood up with Gower' maneuver. Deep tendon reflexes of the extremities were almost normoactive with no pathologic reflexes. As to laboratory findings, serum enzymes of muscular origin were elevated; GOT was 44 IU/l, GPT 60 IU/l, LDH 829 IU/l, CK 4238 IU/l, and aldolase 31 SL units. The electromyogram showed myopathic changes mixed with some neurogenic components. Peripheral nerve conduction velocity was normal. A computed tomography of the skeletal muscles showed more marked atrophy and lower density in the left lower extremity than in the right. The biopsied left gastrocnemius muscle demonstrated a marked variation in fiber size with some necrotic and regenerating fibers. On immunohistochemical stain with anti-dystrophin antibody, the dystrophin negative fibers were scattered among positive fibers in a mosaic distribution.
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PMID:[A manifesting carrier of Duchenne muscular dystrophy presenting mosaic distribution of dystrophin negative and positive muscle fibers]. 218 62

Arginine (Arg) can be methylated to form symmetrical dimethylarginine (SDMA) and asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA), the latter an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). SDMA is excreted in the urine, while ADMA is mainly subjected to degradation in the liver. Arg competes with ADMA and SDMA for cellular transport across cationic amino-acid transporters (CATs). We evaluated the changes in serum, tissue and biliary levels of Arg, citrulline (Cit), ADMA and SDMA and the modifications in CATs after ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R). Male Wistar rats were subjected to 30-min. partial-hepatic ischaemia or sham-operated. After 60-min. reperfusion, the concentrations of ADMA, SDMA, Arg and Cit in serum, tissue and bile were measured. Serum levels of AST, ALT and alkaline phosphatase (AP) levels were determined. mRNA of cationic transporter 2A (CAT-2A) and 2B (CAT-2B) were also quantified. An increase in ADMA and a decrease in SDMA were observed in bile at the end of reperfusion. On the contrary, lower tissue ADMA levels and higher SDMA levels were quantified. No serum changes in ADMA and SDMA were found. A decrease in Arg and an increase of Cit were detected in serum, bile and tissue after I/R. A marked increase in AST, ALT and AP levels in serum confirmed I/R injury. A decrease in mRNA transporter CAT-2A but not in CAT-2B was detected. This study supported a biliary CAT-2B-dependent transport of ADMA and demonstrated, for the first time, that the liver is also responsible for the biliary excretion of SDMA into the bile.
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PMID:Changes in Biliary Levels of Arginine and its Methylated Derivatives after Hepatic Ischaemia/Reperfusion. 2666 42