Research paper
L-arginine supplementation in severe asthma.
Study answer
What this study found
No significant reduction in moderate asthma exacerbations with l-arginine in the overall cohort (primary endpoint; P=0.41). In the low-FeNO subgroup, l-arginine was associated with a 0.45 L (0.12% predicted) increase in FVC versus the high-FeNO subgroup (interaction P=0.02; group difference P<0.001). FeNO rose more in the low-FeNO group on l-arginine. Baseline metabolites PGH2 and Nα-acetyl-L-arginine predicted treatment response; higher arginine availability index (AAI) correlated with fewer exacerbations and higher FeNO. A subset of 28 with complete data included 8 responders (≥33%…
- Study & population
- Single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial at UC Davis.
- Intervention
- Oral l-arginine 0.05 g/kg ideal body weight twice daily; 12 weeks per treatment period.
- Key limitation
- Small, single-center crossover trial; potential carryover and period effects; metabolomics results were semiquantitative and not validated in a replication cohort; limited generalizability.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Dysregulation of L-arginine metabolism has been proposed to occur in severe asthma patients. The effects of L-arginine supplementation on L-arginine metabolite profiles in these patients is unknown. We hypothesized that severe asthmatics w…