Various studies have shown a role for citrulline as a gut mass biomarker in patients with short bowel syndrome. Our hypothesis is that plasma citrulline is both a gastrointestinal (GI) function and a gut mass marker. Our objective was to validate previous observations, by prospectively analyzing plasma citrulline concentrations in patients with GI disease with or without bowel resection, compar...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the effect of the amino acids L-arginine and citrulline on endothelial function in patients in stable diastolic and right heart failure using photoplethysmography. METHODS Thirty patients from the Heart Failure Clinic of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición "Salvador Zubirán" underwent photoplethysmography using the hyperemia technique. Index finger fl...

Weakly electric fish produce electric organ discharges (EODs) used for electrolocation and communication. In the brown ghost knifefish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus, several neuron types in brain regions that control the EOD or process electrosensory information express nitric oxide synthase (NOS). The present study used immunoreactivity for L-citrulline, a byproduct of the production of nitric ox...

Citrulline is synthesized in mitochondria of Neurospora crassa from ornithine and carbamoyl phosphate. In mycelia grown in minimal medium, carbamoyl phosphate limits citrulline (and arginine) synthesis. Addition of arginine to such cultures reduces the availability of intramitochondrial ornithine, and ornithine then limits citrulline synthesis. We have found that for some time after addition of...

An arginine auxotrophic mutant was obtained from Streptomyces griseoflavus (bicozamycin-producing strain). The mutant grew on synthetic agar supplemented with either arginine, ornithine, citrulline or argininosuccinate, but produced massive aerial mycelium and bicozamycin only with citrulline. In liquid culture, citrulline also completely restored the ability of the mutant to produce bicozamyci...

BACKGROUND The amino acid arginine plays a key role in many metabolic processes in health and disease. Low arginine concentrations are found in various illnesses in children. OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate the relation between plasma concentrations of arginine (and precursor amino acids) and severity of inflammation in critically ill children. DESIGN This was an observational co...

We have previously shown in rats that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causes both decreased renal perfusion and kidney arginine production before nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, resulting in a >30% reduction in plasma arginine. To clarify the early phase effects of LPS, we asked the following two questions: 1) is the rapid change in renal arginine production after LPS simply the result of decreased subst...

Effects of nicotine on arterial endothelium-dependent relaxations mediated by nitric oxide are controversial. Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that nicotine can directly alter activity of endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS). NOS from aortic endothelial cells of untreated dogs and recombinant eNOS, neuronal NOS, and inducible NOS were used for these experiments. NOS activity...

A low birth weight (LBW) leads to a higher risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. Literature suggests that citrulline supplementation in adulthood prevents the effect of a high fructose diet on energy metabolism. Whether neonatal citrulline supplementation would alter early growth or energy metabolism in the long-term in rats with LBW is unknown. LBW pups born from dams fed a low (4%) protein...

Objective(s):Some pathologic situations such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome are associated with alternation in nitric oxide level. Incidence of these condition increases with aging. On the other hand, insulin secretion is modulated by nitric oxide, and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity is also altered in diabetes. In this study, modification in the enzyme activity associated with aging a...