l-Arginine Supplementation Alleviates Postprandial Endothelial Dysfunction When Baseline Fasting Plasma Arginine Concentration Is Low: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Overweight Adults with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors.

What this study found

L-arginine supplementation improved postprandial endothelial function after a high-fat meal, with effects strongest in participants with lower baseline fasting arginine. At the end of the postprandial period, FMD was 4.0% 6 0.40% with SR-Arg versus 2.9% 6 0.31% with placebo, and fRHI was 0.41 6 0.069 versus 0.21 6 0.060, both P < 0.05. The time by treatment interaction was significant for postprandial changes in FMD (P < 0.0001) and fRHI (P < 0.05). In the lower-arginine subgroup, placebo produced a 50% FMD decrease versus 29% with SR-Arg, and fRHI decreased 49% with placebo versus increased…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 2-period crossover trial in 33 healthy overweight adults with the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and other cardiometabolic risk factors.

Intervention

Sustained-release L-arginine capsules, 1.5 g per dose taken orally 3 times daily for 4 weeks per treatment period, for a total of 4.5 g/day.

Key limitation

The trial was small and short, with only 33 randomized participants and 4-week treatment periods.

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