Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, DF, México.
Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2010 Mar;65(1):31-7. doi: 10.1007/s11130-009-0143-y.
The well known metabolic functions of L-arginine have been recently increased with the discovery of its role as the substrate for the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO), which has emerged as an endogenous signaling molecule with potential therapeutic implications for cardiovascular disease. Steady-state levels of NO are derived in part from dietary sources. It has been reported that supplementation of L-arginine reduces atherosclerosis in rabbits and reduces the arterial pressure in hypertensive rats. Therefore, we investigated the effect of L-arginine supplementation using a group of induced hypercholesterolemic rats and a group of spontaneously hypertensive rats; the infarcted area in cardiac tissue of both groups was measured during the response to myocardial infarction in the ischemia-reperfusion model. Hypercholesterolemic rats supplemented with 170 mg kg(-1) of L-arginine showed a significant (P <or= 0.05) reduction in total cholesterol (25.2%) and LDL (27.8%). Spontaneously hypertensive rats supplemented with L-arginine presented a significant reduction (20.3%) in mean blood pressure (P <or= 0.05). The index infarcted area/total heart area, in both: hypercholesterolemic and hypertensive rats supplemented with L-arginine, showed a significant 36% and 29% of cardio protection (P <or= 0.05) effect, respectively. Dietary supplementation with L-arginine may represent a potentially novel nutritional strategy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
精氨酸的众所周知的代谢功能最近随着其作为合成一氧化氮（NO）的底物的作用的发现而得到了增加，NO 已经作为一种内源性信号分子出现，具有心血管疾病的潜在治疗意义。NO 的稳态水平部分来自饮食来源。据报道，补充精氨酸可减少兔子的动脉粥样硬化并降低高血压大鼠的动脉压。因此，我们使用一组诱导高胆固醇血症的大鼠和一组自发性高血压大鼠来研究精氨酸补充的效果；在缺血再灌注模型中对心肌梗死的反应期间，测量两组心脏组织中的梗塞面积。补充 170mg/kg 的精氨酸的高胆固醇血症大鼠的总胆固醇（25.2%）和 LDL（27.8%）显著降低（P≤0.05）。补充精氨酸的自发性高血压大鼠的平均血压降低了 20.3%（P≤0.05）。补充精氨酸的高胆固醇血症和高血压大鼠的梗塞面积/总心脏面积指数分别显示出 36%和 29%的心脏保护作用（P≤0.05）。饮食补充精氨酸可能代表治疗心血管疾病的一种潜在的新型营养策略。
