ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases have be-come a great health threat.Increasing evidence has shown that both asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)and symmetric dim-ethylarginine (SDMA)play important and independent roles in the development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases as well as in the prediction of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.Alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase 2 (AGXT2 )is re-cently observed to be involved in ADMA metabolism.Deficiency in the expression and activity of AGXT2 may thus play a role in the development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases by affecting ADMA levels in vivo.Several single-nucleotide poly-morphisms at AGXT2 locus are observed to be associated with plasma SDMA level.This review summarizes recent advances in AGXT2 and its role in ADMA metabolism and the clinical rele-vance.