Arginine doesn't cut death risk from heart attack

By David Liu

A new Chinese review study suggests that taking L-arginine, an amino acid, does not change the outcomes of unstable coronary artery disease.

Prior trials suggest that oral administration of L-arginine improves endothelial function in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Sun T and colleagues from Fudan University in Shanghai China wanted to know if supplementation of L-arginine has any effect on clinical outcomes in patients with unstable coronary artery disease.

The researchers searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, reviews, and reference lists of relevant articles and identified two trials that evaluated clinical outcomes in 927 patients.

They conducted a meta-analysis and found none of the two studies showed a significant improvement in the outcomes of acute myocardial infarction who used L-arginine supplements.

When all data were pooled together, they found however patients supplemented with L-arginine were 7 percent less likely to die from acute myocardial infarction. But the difference is not statistically significant.

The researchers concluded that oral L-arginine supplementation has no effect on the clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Arigine is found high in foods like peanuts.  It is an important nutrient for male reproductive system.  It is needed for sperm production.  Those who want to enhance their bed performance may consider increasing their intake of peanuts.