Correlation of vitamin D and asymmetric dimethylarginine in children with bronchial asthma

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bronchial Asthma is outlined as a chronic irritation of the airways in children. Vitamin D is a real immune system regulator which has a potential part in allergy. Asymmetric Dimethyl Arginine (ADMA) is an endogenic Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) inhibitor. This study is to determine if there is a role of vitamin D deficiency, ADMA in the pathogenesis of asthma in children, And whether the decreased arginine bioavailability and NOS suppression by ADMA contribute to respiratory tract blockage or not. We measured serum vitamin D, ADMA, nitric oxide and plasma L-arginine in 30 asthmatic and 10 healthy children. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D, plasma L-Arginine and serum Nitric Oxide were decreased significantly in asthmatic patients compared to healthy children. On the other hand, ADMA serum levels were increased significantly in asthmatic patients. In asthmatic children, there were positive correlations between serum vitamin D concentration and forced expiratory volume in the first, second FEV1 (%predicted). Furthermore, there were negative correlations between serum ADMA concentration and FEV1 (%predicted). In conclusion, marked reduction of vitamin D and elevated ADMA serum levels in asthmatic children has contributed to NOS-related pathophysiology, therefore ADMA and vitamin D could be considered reliable in managing oxidative stress in asthma.