Master of Science / Biomedical Sciences / Gregory F. Grauer / Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a potentially life-threatening disease that reportedly affects 10% of dogs and 30% of cats over the age of 15. There is no cure available for CKD, but medical management is available for patients with this disease. Research has focused on earlier detection of CKD with the goal of instituting medical management and monitoring as early in the disease course as possible. Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) has recently emerged as a novel renal excretory biomarker that may aid in early detection of CKD in cats and dogs. SDMA is non-protein bound and is freely filtered by the glomerulus, is not secreted or reabsorbed, and has greater than 90% excretion by the kidneys, making it a potential target for measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Previous studies have demonstrated a close parallel between SDMA and serum creatinine (sCr), which is the currently favored serum biomarker for assessment of GFR. Research has also demonstrated a correlation between SDMA and GFR. Serum concentrations of SDMA increase above normal when GFR is decreased by 25-40%; much earlier than the 75% decrease in GFR typically required for sCr to increase above its reference interval. The studies reported here demonstrate a potential use for the SDMA:sCr ratio as a predictor of volume responsive azotemia. Furthermore, longitudinal assessment of older dogs and cats for early detection of CKD showed that SDMA was a more sensitive indicator of CKD than sCr. The evaluation of SDMA reported in this thesis presents a novel perspective on SDMA and its use clinically.

L’infarctus du myocarde (IDM) résulte des complications de l’athérosclérose, dont le développement serait initié par une dysfonction endothéliale, s’accompagnant d’un état de stress oxydant. Le fer interagirait dans cette pathogenèse à différents niveaux et aurait également un rôle majeur dans la survenue de la dysfonction endothéliale. L’hepcidine et l’érythroferrone (découverte auparavant sous le nom de myonectine/CTRP 15), participeraient dans la régulation de certaines étapes du métabolisme du fer. La diméthyl-arginine asymétrique (ADMA), marqueur de dysfonction endothéliale, est associée à la plupart des facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire. Son stéréo-isomère, la diméthyl-arginine symétrique (SDMA), a une élimination exclusivement rénale et est considéré comme un puissant marqueur de fonction rénale.Nous nous sommes proposés d’étudier, chez des patients en phase aiguë d’IDM, la signification des paramètres traditionnels du statut du fer, des protéines impliquées dans la régulation du fer, l’hepcidine et la myonectine, ainsi que des dérivés méthylés de la L-arginine, l’ADMA et la SDMA.Dans notre première étude prospective, nous observons que les valeurs de SDMA, et dans une moindre mesure celles d'ADMA, sont associées à la glycémie d'admission et pourraient donc exercer des actions biologiques indépendantes de la fonction rénale. Notre second travail suggère que les patients présentant de l’insuffisance cardiaque à la phase aiguë de l’IDM sont caractérisés par une anémie et un certain degré de carence en fer. Le dosage des nouveaux biomarqueurs de la régulation du métabolisme du fer, l'hepcidine et la myonectine a montré une tendance à l’augmentation de ces taux sériques chez ces patients en lien avec une augmentation de la CRP. Ainsi nos travaux laissent entrevoir les liens qui uniraient, à la phase aiguë de l’infarctus du myocarde, ces nouveaux biomarqueurs régulateurs du métabolisme du fer aux conséquences fonctionnelles des pathologies cardiovasculaires, notamment en termes d’anémie et d’insuffisance cardiaque. / Myocardial infarction (MI) is mostly caused by complications of atherosclerosis, whose the development would be initiated by a dysfunction of the vascular endothelium, characterized by an inflammatory condition and oxidative stress.In this pathogenesis, iron interacts at different levels and also has a major role in the development of endothelial dysfunction. Hepcidin and erythroferrone (discovered earlier as the myonectin/CTRP 15) participate in a major way in regulating certain stages of iron metabolism.Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a marker of endothelial dysfunction is associated with most cardiovascular risk factors. Symmetrical dimethyl-arginine (SDMA), its stereoisomer, has an exclusively renal elimination and is considered as a powerful renal function marker.We aimed to study, in patients with acute MI, the meaning of the "traditional" status iron parameters, two proteins involved in the regulation of iron, hepcidin and myonectin, as well as the two L-arginine derivatives, ADMA and SDMA. In our first prospective study, we observe that, in patients with acute MI, the values of SDMA, and only weakly ADMA, are associated with admission blood glucose, beyond traditional dimethylarginine determinants and may therefore have biological activity beyond renal function.Our second work suggests that patients with heart failure in the acute phase of MI present more frequently anemia and a certain degree of iron deficiency. New iron metabolism regulators biomarkers, hepcidin and myonectin showed a trend toward an increase in the serum levels in these patients characterized by an increase in CRP.Thus, our work suggests the links between these new regulators of iron metabolism in acute MI with functional consequences of cardiovascular diseases, particularly in terms of anemia and heart failure.