L-Arginine is the precursor of NO (nitric oxide), a key endogenous mediator involved in endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation and platelet function. Although the concentration of intracellular L-arginine is well above the Km for NO synthesis, in many cells and pathological conditions the transport of L-arginine is essential for NO production (L-arginine paradox). The present study was desig...

L-Arginine, as a precursor of NO synthesis, has attracted much scientific attention in recent years. Experimental mouse models suggest that L-arginine supplementation can retard, halt, or even reverse atherogenesis. In human studies, supplementation with L-arginine improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation. However, L-arginine levels are best interpreted in the context of levels of asymmetric...

Background Lipid peroxidation is known to cause various impairments to sperm cells and may play a major role in the etiology of male infertility. Asthenospermia is the main factor of male infertility and has significantly higher level of peroxidation than in normozoospermic males. MaterialsAndMethods Using thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay procedure, we have determined the level of lipid peroxida...

D-amino acids exist in living organisms as specialized components of many different machineries. Biosynthesis of D-amino acids from racemization of predominant L-enantiomers is catalyzed by a single enzyme. Here, we report the finding of a novel 2-component amino acid racemase for D-to-L inversion in D-arginine metabolism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. From DNA microarray analysis, the putative dau...

BACKGROUND BPC 157 is a stable gastric pentadecapeptide recently implicated with a role in hemostasis. While NO is largely implicated in hemostatic mechanisms, in tail-amputation-models under heparin- and warfarin-administration, both the NO-synthase (NOS)-blocker, L-NAME (prothrombotic) and the NOS-substrate L-arginine (antithrombotic), were little investigated. Objective. To investigate the e...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether secondhand smoke (SHS) induces pulmonary artery endothelial dysfunction, and whether dietary L-arginine supplementation is preventive. BACKGROUND SHS causes coronary and peripheral arterial endothelial dysfunction. METHODS The effects of L-arginine supplementation (2.25% solution) and SHS (10 weeks) on pulmonary vascular reactivity were examined in 32 rabbits...

in this study the effect of nitric oxide synthesis inhibition on stress-induced gastric damage was evaluated in bile duel ligated, sham operated and unoperated rats. animals were injected intraperitoneally with ng-nitro-l-arginine methylester (l-name), 40 mglkg, l-argininc, 200 mg/kg or saline, 30 min before water-immersion stress. one hour after water immersion, the animals were killed and the...

Studies were performed on the internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle strips obtained from opossums (Didelphis virginiana). Isometric tension and L-arginine levels of the tissues were measured under basal conditions, in the presence of electrical field stimulation (EFS) and after treatment with different concentrations of arginase. For the nonadrenergic noncholinergic nerve stimulation, sho...

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to determine the effect of two weeks' treatment with L-arginine on the ratio of plasma L-arginine to asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), oxidative stress, endothelium-dependent vasodilatation to acetylcholine, exercise performance and heart rate variability in men with stable angina. BACKGROUND The ratio of plasma L-arginine:ADMA has been proposed as a deter...

To the Editor: Miner et al1 in a recent work used the steady-state N2arginine to examine the transorgan L-arginine gradients in the peripheral and coronary circulation. They found that during acetylcholine infusion a significant gradient was detected, indicating that the stimulation of NOS induces arginine transport. A body of evidence suggests that L-arginine supplementation improves endotheli...