Effect of long term oral administration of L-arginine on experimentally produced myocardial ischemia in rabbits.

L-arginine a semi essential amino acid and a precursor of nitric oxide (NO) was orally supplemented in diet (standard rabbit feed) of hypercholesterolemic (n=6) and normal rabbits (n=6) for 16 weeks. Myocardial ischemia was produced in both groups of rabbits by subcutaneous single bolus injection of isoproteronol. Severity of myocardial ischemia was assessed by estimating the serum CPK and AST levels after 6 hour of ischemia-reperfusion. The result suggests that severity of ischemia was lesser in the L-arginine primed hypercholesterolemic group.