A new study in BMC Cancer suggests that supplementation with L-arginine, an amino acid that is involved in the activation of T cells may help fight breast cancer.

It is observed that breast cancer patients have L-arginine depleted because of the presence of nitric oxide synthase 2 and arginase 1 produced by myeloid-derived suppressor cells.  

For that reason, authors of the study wanted to test and see if arginine supplementation may enhance help enhance antitumor immune response and improve survival of rodents with mammary tutors.

The study shows that L-arginine supplementation inhibited tumor growth and prolonged the survival in 4 T1 TB mice and significantly suppressed or reduced the number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells.
  
Biochemical evidence indicates that the L-arginine supplement renders an anticancer effect against the mammary tumor in rodents by providing enhanced innate and adaptive immune responses.


The study by Yu Cao et al. is not the only report to suggest that L-arginine supplements can help treat breast cancer.

According to another report, L-arginine plays a critical role in the growth of breast cancer. When arginine is present in cells, two enzymes arginase and nitric oxide synthase tend to interact with it and produce ornithine and nitric oxide, respectively.  Both ornithine and nitric oxide are involved in the growth of breast cancer.



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