30.4.12

Do L-arginine supplements reduce Crohn's symptoms?

Aginine from Wikipeda

L-arginine from MedlinePlus

In a grain-free diet nuts are the best source.

"Increased serum levels of L-arginine in ulcerative colitis and correlation with disease severity" in Inflamm Bowel Dis (2010)
"Serum L-Arg levels correlate with UC disease severity but availability is not increased due to competitive inhibition by L-Orn and L-Lys. Our findings suggest that L-Arg uptake by cells in the inflamed colon is defective, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of UC. Studies delineating the mechanism of uptake inhibition could enhance our understanding of UC or lead to novel treatment options."

"L-arginine Supplementation Improves Responses to Injury and Inflammation in Dextran Sulfate Sodium Colitis" in PLoS ONE (2012)
"Luminex-based multi-analyte profiling demonstrated that there was a marked reduction in proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine expression with L-Arg treatment. Genomic analysis by microarray demonstrated that DSS-treated mice supplemented with L-Arg clustered more closely with mice not exposed to DSS than to those receiving DSS alone, and revealed that multiple genes that were upregulated or downregulated with DSS alone exhibited normalization of expression with L-Arg supplementation. Additionally, L-Arg treatment of mice with DSS colitis resulted in increased ex vivomigration of colonic epithelial cells, suggestive of increased capacity for wound repair. ... These preclinical studies indicate that L-Arg supplementation could be a potential therapy for IBD, and that one mechanism of action may be functional enhancement of iNOS activity."

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