Dietary L-arginine intake and the incidence of coronary heart disease: Tehran lipid and glucose study.

Zahra Bahadoran,Zhaleh Tahmasebinejad,Parvin Mirmiran,Fereidoun Azizi

doi:10.1186/s12986-016-0084-z

Abstract

BackgroundWe investigated the association of regular dietary intake of L-arginine and both the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and changes of blood pressure.MethodsEligible adults (n = 2284) who participated in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study were followed for a mean of 4.7 years. Dietary intake of L-arginine was assessed at baseline (2006–2008); biochemical variables were evaluated at baseline and the follow-up examination. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models adjusted for potential confounders were used to estimate the risk of CHD across tertiles of L-arginine intake. Linear regression models were also used to indicate the association of L-arginine intake with changes of serum lipids and blood pressure during the follow-up.ResultsMean age of participants (42.8 % men) was 38.2 ± 13.4, at baseline. During a mean 4.7 ± 1.4 y of follow-up, 57 participants experienced CHD events. A significant negative association was observed between plant-derived L-arginine intake and changes of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, whereas animal-derived L-arginine intake was related to increased levels of diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.01). Participants in the 2nd tertile (1.45–1.78 g/d) had a significantly increased risk of CHD events compared to the participants in the 1st tertile (<1.45 g/d) (HR = 1.90, 95 % CI = 1.03–3.58). The risk of CHD had a decreasing trend across increasing plant-derived L-arginine intake (HR = 1.0, HR = 0.91, 95 % CI = 0.51–1.62, HR = 0.72, 95 % CI = 0.39–1.32, P for trend = 0.03).ConclusionHigher intake of plant derived L-arginine may have a protective effect whereas animal-derived L-arginine may be a risk factor for development of hypertension and CHD events.

Highlights

We investigated the association of regular dietary intake of L-arginine and both the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and changes of blood pressure
L-Arginine, a conditionally essential amino acid, is the main substrate of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) family enzymes and is responsible for the production of the endothelium-derived relaxing factor nitric oxide (NO), which is involved in regulatory mechanisms of the cardiovascular system [1, 2]
Mean intakes of L-arginine was lower in subjects with CHD (3.8 ± 1.2 vs. 4.1 ± 1.5 g/d, P = 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

We investigated the association of regular dietary intake of L-arginine and both the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and changes of blood pressure. Some previous animal studies and clinical trials reported some favorable effects on cardiovascular risk factors following acute or long-term administration of L-arginine by several mechanisms, including endothelium dependent vasodilation and inhibition of platelet aggregation [6,7,8,9]. This issue remains a challenging debate due to some controversial findings [10, 11]; in CAD patients and postmenopausal women, oral administration of 9 g/d L-arginine had no significant effects on NO production, flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery, cell adhesion molecules E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 [12, 13]. Findings of two previous population-based studies did not support the cardiovascular protective effects of regular dietary intake of L-arginine [14, 15]

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