Key result
L-arginine improves endothelial function only in older patients with baseline dysfunction, showing no general benefit.
Why the study?
Vascular senescence and endothelial dysfunction with aging contribute to increased CVD risk, prompting interest in L-arginine as a novel nutritional strategy to slow the progression of vascular dysfunction.
Does L-arginine nutritional supplementation prevent or improve age-associated vascular endothelial dysfunction in aging individuals and patients with cardiovascular disease?
Does L-arginine nutritional supplementation prevent or improve age-associated vascular endothelial dysfunction in aging individuals and patients with cardiovascular disease?
L-arginine supplementation may improve endothelial function in select aging populations with overt baseline endothelial dysfunction, but lacks evidence for long-term safety and efficacy and may cause harm in peripheral artery disease or post-myocardial infarction patients.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Not for general prophylaxis in aging; leaves open targeted trials in patients with overt baseline dysfunction.
With advancing age, peripheral conduit and resistance arteries lose the ability to effectively dilate owing to endothelial dysfunction. This vascular senescence contributes to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with aging. L-arginine plays a role in numerous physiological processes including nitrogen detoxification, immunocompetence, growth hormone (GH) secretion, and insulin secretion. Recently, a considerable amount of attention has been placed on the ability of this amino acid to affect vascular endothelial function. The purpose of this review will be to examine the use of L-arginine as a novel nutritional strategy to potentially stave progression of vascular dysfunction with aging and CVD. Emphasis will be placed on the ability of L-arginine to modulate the vascular inflammatory and systemic hormonal milieu, which in turn may have a positive effect on vascular endothelial function.
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Heffernan et al. (2010) conducted a review in Vascular endothelial dysfunction with aging and cardiovascular disease. L-arginine supplementation was evaluated on Vascular endothelial function (endothelium-dependent vasodilation / flow-mediated dilation). L-arginine supplementation improves endothelial function only in aging patients with overt baseline endothelial dysfunction and is not warranted as a general prophylaxis.
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