Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30111829›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2018

Plasma Homoarginine Concentrations According to Use of Hormonal Contraception.

Thea Helm, Kristin Varsi, Christina Herland Fløtre, Agnethe Lund, Gard Frodahl Tveitevåg Svingen, Per Magne Ueland, Anne-Lise Bjørke-Monsen

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 41% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Mechanisms of Homoarginine: Looking Beyond Clinical Outcomes.Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2025
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Metabolic signatures of pregnancy-induced cardiac growth.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2022
    Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Thea HelmFaculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Kristin VarsiLaboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Christina Herland FløtreFaculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Agnethe LundDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Gard Frodahl Tveitevåg SvingenDepartment of Heart Disease, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Per Magne UelandLaboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Anne-Lise Bjørke-MonsenLaboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. almo@helse-bergen.no.
University of Bergen · NOHaukeland University Hospital · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Estrogen is a potent vasodilator through activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Arginine and its homologue homoarginine are substrates for NOS, while asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a NOS inhibitor. Healthy, never-pregnant women aged 18 to 40 years (n = 158) were categorized according to use of hormonal contraception into non-users (n = 76), users of estrogen contraceptives (EC-users, n = 58) and users of progestins-only contraceptives (PC-users, n = 24). Plasma homoarginine, arginine, ADMA and SDMA concentrations were assayed using a LC-MS/MS method. Compared to non-users, EC users had higher plasma homoarginine (median (interquartile range) 1.63 (1.24, 2.04) vs. 2.39 (2.05, 2.85) µmol/L, p < 0.001), lower arginine (80.8 (72.4, 94.3) vs. 72.1 (62.9, 85.1) µmol/L, p = 0.008) and ADMA (0.52 (0.46, 0.59) vs. 0.48 (0.42, 0.54) µmol/L, p = 0.003) concentrations. The lowest median plasma homoarginine concentration (1.34 (0.92, 1.75) µmol) was seen in PC-users. No differences were seen in SDMA concentrations according to use of hormonal contraception. In healthy, never-pregnant women aged 18 to 40 years, use of estrogen containing contraception was associated with significantly higher plasma concentrations of homoarginine and lower plasma concentrations of arginine and ADMA as compared to non-users, while the lowest plasma homoarginine concentrations were seen in progestin-only users. Whether the observed changes in relation to use of hormonal contraception have an impact on cardiovascular status, should be evaluated in an intervention study.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultArginineChromatography, LiquidContraceptionContraceptives, Oral, HormonalEstrogensFemaleHomoarginineHumansNitric OxideNitric Oxide SynthaseNitric Oxide Synthase Type IIIProgestinsTandem Mass SpectrometryYoung AdultArginineContraceptives, Oral, HormonalEstrogensHomoarginineNitric OxideNitric Oxide SynthaseNitric Oxide Synthase Type IIIN,N-dimethylarginineProgestinssymmetric dimethylarginine

Identifiers

PMID30111829
PMCPMC6093891
OpenAlexW2885825881

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.