biomolecules Article Endothelial Dysfunction May Link Interatrial Septal Abnormalities and MTHFR-Inherited Defects to Cryptogenic Stroke Predisposition 1, 2, 1 1 Luca Sgarra y, Alessandro Santo Bortone y, Maria Assunta Potenza , Carmela Nacci , Maria Antonietta De Salvia 1, Tommaso Acquaviva 2, Emanuela De Cillis 2, Marco Matteo Ciccone 2, Massimo Grimaldi 3 and Monica Montagnani 1,* 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology—Section of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy;
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[email protected] These authors contributed equally to this work. y Received: 28 March 2020; Accepted: 2 June 2020; Published: 4 June 2020 Abstract: We explored the significance of the L-Arginine/asymmetric dimethylarginine (L-Arg/ADMA) ratio as a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction in stroke patients. To this aim, we evaluated the correlation, in terms of severity, between the degree of endothelial dysfunction (by L-Arg/ADMA ratio), the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype, and the interatrial septum (IAS) phenotype in subject with a history of stroke. Methods and Results: L-Arg, ADMA, and MTHFR genotypes were evaluated; the IAS phenotype was assessed by transesophageal echocardiography.