Effect of l-arginine on energy metabolism, skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue in South Asian and Europid prediabetic men: a randomised double-blinded crossover study

What this study found

L-arginine did not change basal metabolic rate, brown adipose tissue volume or [18F]FDG uptake, or skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration in either ethnic group. It improved glucose tolerance in Europid men only, lowering OGTT glucose AUC 0-2 h by 9%, insulin excursion by 26%, and peak insulin concentrations by 26% (all compared with baseline/placebo conditions as reported), with AUC 0-120 glucose decreasing from 1052 ± 64 to 955 ± 47 and incremental glucose from 382 ± 56 to 288 ± 33. In South Asian men, no significant changes were observed in OGTT-derived glucose or insulin metrics. The…

Study & population

Randomized double-blinded crossover trial in overweight prediabetic Dutch South Asian and Dutch Europid men.

Intervention

Oral L-arginine 9 g/day, divided into three servings daily, for 6 weeks.

Key limitation

Small, ethnic subgroup-sized sample with only 10 participants per active cohort limits precision and generalizability.

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