L-Arginine improves exercise tolerance.

 

Endothelial (thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels) dysfunction is associated with the decreased exercise capacity observed in heart-transplant (HTx) recipients. L-Arginine supplementation (LAS) stimulates the nitric oxide (NO) pathway and restores endothelial function. Nitric oxide plays a role in arteries and blood vessels expanding in order to accommodate changes in blood flow.

In this study,  exercise capacity in healthy subjects and HTx patients were compared and investigated whether chronic LAS might improve exercise capacity and NO/endothelin balance after an HTx.

Exercise capacity decreased after transplantation. Unlike with the placebo intake, a 6-wk LAS improved quality of life in HTx recipients and their submaximal exercise capacity. The distance walked during the 6MWT increased, and the ventilatory threshold during the incremental test was delayed by 1.2 min (P = 0.01). Central factors such as resting stroke volume, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure, cardiac systolodiastolic functions, and heart-rate reserve were not modified, but LAS significantly increased the NO:endothelin ratio.

Researchers concluded that oral LAS may be a useful adjuvant therapeutic to improve quality of life and exercise tolerance in HTx recipients.

 

       

For information about MDR Vital Factors, which contains l-arginine, click here.

 

SOURCE

 Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar 3. [Epub ahead of print]