Enhancement of depressed plasma concentrations of glutamine and arginine is associated with better clinical outcome. Supplementation of glutamine might be a way to provide the patient with glutamine, and also arginine, because glutamine provides the kidney with citrulline, from which the kidney produces arginine when plasma levels of arginine are low. The aim of the present study was to investi...

pmmSe. The conversion of L-arginine into L-citrulline by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) leads to nitric oxide formation. Two major NOS isoforms exist, a &*-dependent NOS (cNOS) and a &“-independent NOS (iNOS). The cNOS is constitutive of many cells while the iNOS is not expressed in normal conditions but only induced after the stimulation by different factors (endotoxins, cytokines, etc...). This ...

Endothelial dysfunction is a hallmark of cardiovascular disease, and the l-arginine:NO pathway plays a critical role in determining endothelial function. Recent studies suggest that smoking, a well-recognized risk factor for vascular disease, may interfere with l-arginine and NO metabolism; however, this remains poorly characterized. Accordingly, we performed a series of complementary in vivo a...