Endothelial metabolism of L-arginine to L-citrulline and the potent vasodilator, nitric oxide (NO), is important in the regulation of vascular tone and resting BP. L-arginine improves abnormal endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the setting of hypercholesterolemia and has a vasodilatory effect in normal vessels, effects presumed to be mediated through increased endogenous NO production, altho...

BACKGROUND Uninephrectomy (UNX) is performed for various reasons, including kidney cancer or donation. Kidneys being the main site of l-arginine production in the body, we tested whether UNX mediated kidney mass reduction impacts l-arginine metabolism and thereby nitric oxide production and blood pressure regulation in mice. METHODS AND RESULTS In a first series of experiments, we observed a ...

The presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS), and argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) and their coexistence with NADPH-diaphorase (NADPHd), a marker for NOS, in the porcine sphenopalatine ganglia (SPG), pial veins, and the anterior cerebral arteries was examined using immunohistochemical and histochemical staining techniques. NOS-immunoreactive (I), ASS-I, and ASL-I...

L-Arginine may be a conditionally essential amino acid in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease, particularly as required substrate in the arginine-nitric oxide pathway for endogenous nitrovasodilation and vasoprotection. Vasoprotection by arginine is mediated partly by nitric oxide-induced inhibition of endothelial damage and inhibition of adhesion and activation of leukocytes. Act...

A metabolic pathway by which L-arginine (L-arg) is converted to the biologically active compound NO. has recently been described in macrophages (M phi) and endothelial cells. This report demonstrates that transferable products from activated Kupffer cells (KC) induce the conversion of large quantities of L-arg to nitrogen oxides within hepatocytes (HC). In M phi and endothelial cells, citrullin...

PURPOSE Hypocitrullinemia has been suggested to be a prognostic factor for patients in intensive care. The aim of this ancillary study of the Corticosteroids and Intensive Insulin Therapy for Septic Shock prospective study was to investigate plasma L-citrulline concentrations and its relationship with inflammation and digestive bacterial translocation in patients with septic shock multiorgan fa...

Several physiological effects induced by activation of neurokinin(3) (NK(3)) receptors are mediated by the production of nitric oxide (NO). We investigated the intracellular coupling of NK(3) receptors to NO synthase (NOS) using a Chinese hamster ovary cell line that was stably transfected with both the NK(3) receptor and type I (neuronal) NOS. NOS activity in the transfected cell line was assa...

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) utilizes L-arginine as its principal substrate, converting it to L-citrulline and nitric oxide (NO). L-citrulline is recycled to L-arginine by two enzymes, argininosuccinate synthase (AS) and argininosuccinate lyase (AL), providing the substrate arginine for eNOS and NO production in endothelial cells. Together, these three enzymes, eNOS, AS and AL, make...