Arginine

Whole-food dietary sources of Arginine
Whole-food dietary sources of Arginine
Molecular structure of Arginine
Molecular structure of Arginine
Arginine in human physiology
Arginine in human physiology
💨 Interactive Visualization Nitric Oxide — make an artery relax Watch the endothelium turn L-arginine into nitric oxide and widen the artery — then let oxidative stress uncouple eNOS and stiffen it, or pour in beet nitrate to rescue the flow. Launch → 🩹 Interactive Visualization How a Wound Heals — run all four phases Follow a cut through platelet plug, immune clean-up, collagen and new vessels, and the long remodel into a scar — then watch diabetes or low vitamin C stall it. Launch →

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Nitric Oxide Production and Vasodilation
  3. Cardiovascular Health and Blood Pressure
  4. The VINTAGE MI Trial: More Deaths After a Heart Attack
  5. Athletic Performance and Endurance
  6. Wound Healing and Tissue Repair
  7. Immune Function
  8. Growth Hormone Stimulation
  9. Erectile Function and Sexual Health
  10. Kidney Function
  11. Insulin Sensitivity
  12. Low Arginine States
  13. Food Sources
  14. Arginine and Herpes Simplex
  15. Supplement Forms and Doses Used in Studies
  16. Daily Intake and Upper Levels
  17. Key Research Papers
  18. Connections
  19. Featured Videos

Overview

L-Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid. Healthy adults make it themselves: in humans and most other mammals arginine is synthesised from glutamine, glutamate and proline through an intestinal–renal pathway, in which the small intestine releases citrulline and the kidneys convert citrulline to arginine (Wu 2009). Experimental and clinical studies indicate that arginine is nutritionally essential for spermatogenesis, embryonic survival, and fetal and neonatal growth (Wu 2009).

Arginine was first isolated in 1886 from lupin seedlings by the German-born chemist Ernst Schulze and his assistant Ernst Steiger, working in Zürich; the story is told on the Arginine History page. Besides being built into proteins, arginine is a precursor for nitric oxide, creatine, polyamines, agmatine and urea, and is interconvertible with proline and glutamate (Morris 2007). Arginine is also required for the detoxification of ammonia (Wu 2009).

Arginine supplements are studied mainly for blood pressure, blood flow and erectile function, for wound healing (usually inside nutrient mixtures), and for blood sugar. The trial results are mixed, and one trial in people who had just had a heart attack was closed early after more deaths in the arginine group (Schulman 2006, described below). This page sets out what the trials and reviews report.

Nitric Oxide Production and Vasodilation

Arginine is the substrate that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) uses to make nitric oxide (NO), with citrulline left over. Endothelial NOS (eNOS) in the lining of blood vessels uses it to make the NO that relaxes the vessel wall (Bode-Böger 2007). The NO diffuses into the smooth muscle underneath, activates guanylate cyclase, and the rise in cyclic GMP relaxes the muscle.

There are three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase that use arginine:

The “arginine paradox”

Plasma arginine is normally about 25 to 30 times higher than the concentration at which purified eNOS works at half its maximum rate in the test tube, so in theory extra arginine should not raise NO production — yet in living people it can improve NO-mediated vessel function. This is called the L-arginine paradox. A 2007 review proposes that the most likely explanation is that extra arginine counters asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), the body's own NOS inhibitor, and suggests that the ratio of arginine to ADMA in plasma might identify the people most likely to benefit; it states that large randomised trials might be needed to find those people (Bode-Böger 2007). The same review reports that in most studies arginine improved endothelial function in animal models of high cholesterol and atherosclerosis.

Low oral bioavailability, and citrulline

Oral arginine is subject to extensive presystemic elimination by arginase in the intestine, while oral L-citrulline is readily absorbed and at least partly converted to arginine (Schwedhelm 2008). In a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled crossover study in 20 healthy volunteers, citrulline raised plasma arginine (peak concentration and area under the curve) more effectively than arginine, in a dose-dependent way. The highest citrulline dose, 3 g twice daily, raised the arginine/ADMA ratio from 186 to 278 and increased urinary nitrate and cyclic GMP. No regimen improved flow-mediated dilation over baseline, although in the pooled data a larger rise in the arginine/ADMA ratio went with a larger improvement in flow-mediated dilation (Schwedhelm 2008). Citrulline is covered on the Citrulline page.

A pathway diagram: oral arginine is largely broken down by arginase in the gut wall before it reaches the blood, while oral citrulline is readily absorbed and at least partly converted to arginine, largely in the kidneys; arginine in the blood is used by endothelial nitric oxide synthase to make nitric oxide, which relaxes the vessel wall and leaves citrulline behind, and the body's own inhibitor ADMA competes with arginine at that enzyme. TWO ROUTES TO PLASMA ARGININE and what endothelial NOS does with it · after Schwedhelm 2008, Wu 2009, Bode-Böger 2007 Oral L-arginine swallowed supplement Gut wall: intestinal arginase extensive breakdown before arginine reaches the blood smaller share Oral L-citrulline readily absorbed Kidney converts citrulline to arginine (at least in part) Plasma arginine Endothelial NOS vessel lining ADMA the body's own inhibitor competes with arginine Nitric oxide vessel wall relaxes Citrulline left over, can be recycled In a crossover study in healthy volunteers, oral citrulline raised plasma arginine more effectively than oral arginine. No regimen in that study improved flow-mediated dilation.
How oral arginine and oral citrulline reach the blood, and how endothelial nitric oxide synthase uses arginine. Sources: Schwedhelm 2008 (presystemic elimination of oral arginine by intestinal arginase; citrulline readily absorbed and at least partly converted); Wu 2009 (the intestinal–renal pathway); Bode-Böger 2007 (ADMA as the endogenous NOS inhibitor).

Cardiovascular Health and Blood Pressure

The proposal behind arginine for the heart and blood vessels is that more substrate means more nitric oxide. The trial results are summarised below, including a trial in which arginine was associated with harm.

Blood pressure

A 2011 meta-analysis pooled 11 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with 387 participants, using oral L-arginine at 4 to 24 g a day. Compared with placebo, arginine lowered systolic blood pressure by 5.39 mm Hg (95% CI 2.25 to 8.54) and diastolic blood pressure by 2.66 mm Hg (95% CI 1.54 to 3.77). Results were similar when the analysis was restricted to trials lasting 4 weeks or longer and to trials whose participants were not taking blood-pressure medicines. A meta-regression suggested a larger fall in people with higher starting systolic pressure, but this relation was not statistically significant (Dong 2011).

Pre-eclampsia

In a randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled trial at a public hospital in Mexico City, pregnant women at high risk of pre-eclampsia (a previous pre-eclamptic pregnancy, or pre-eclampsia in a first-degree relative) were studied from weeks 14–32 of pregnancy and followed until delivery. They received medical-food bars containing L-arginine plus antioxidant vitamins (228 women), antioxidant vitamins alone (222) or placebo bars (222). Pre-eclampsia was significantly less frequent with arginine plus vitamins than with placebo (absolute risk reduction 0.17, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.21) and than with vitamins alone; vitamins alone did not reach statistical significance against placebo. The authors state that the combination needs to be tested in low-risk women, and that the separate contributions of arginine and of the vitamins still need to be determined (Vadillo-Ortega 2011).

The heart-and-vessel evidence is described further on the Arginine for Cardiovascular Health and Nitric Oxide page.

The VINTAGE MI Trial: More Deaths After a Heart Attack

The VINTAGE MI trial was a single-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 153 people after a first ST-elevation myocardial infarction (heart attack). Participants took L-arginine (goal dose 3 g three times a day) or a matching placebo, added to standard post-infarction treatment, for 6 months. Arginine did not improve the measures of vascular stiffness or left ventricular ejection fraction, in those aged 60 or older or in the whole group. Six participants (8.6%) in the arginine group died during the 6-month study, against none in the placebo group (P = .01), and because of these safety concerns the data and safety monitoring committee closed enrollment. The authors concluded that arginine added to standard treatment may be associated with higher post-infarction mortality and that it should not be recommended following acute myocardial infarction (Schulman 2006).

Athletic Performance and Endurance

Arginine is sold for exercise on the idea that more nitric oxide means more blood flow to working muscle. Arginine is also one of the building blocks of creatine, which the body makes from arginine, glycine and methionine (via S-adenosylmethionine), and it takes part in disposing of ammonia through the urea cycle (Wu 2009).

A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis included 18 placebo-controlled studies, 15 of them pooled. It reported that arginine improved aerobic performance tests (standardised mean difference 0.84, 95% CI 0.12 to 1.56, with high heterogeneity, I² 89%) and anaerobic performance tests (standardised mean difference 0.24, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.43). Its authors described an acute dose of 0.15 g per kg of body weight taken 60–90 minutes before exercise, and longer-term doses of 1.5–2 g a day for 4–7 weeks (aerobic) and 10–12 g a day for 8 weeks (anaerobic) (Viribay 2020). A 2025 published comment on that meta-analysis argued that it contains errors common in sports-nutrition meta-analyses that distort its pooled effect estimates and their interpretation (Trexler 2025).

Wound Healing and Tissue Repair

Arginine can be converted, through ornithine, to proline — one of the main amino acids of collagen — and ornithine also feeds the polyamines that support cell division (Morris 2007; Albaugh 2017). Through inducible NOS, immune cells in a wound also make nitric oxide from arginine.

Human studies of arginine and wound repair fall into two groups: small studies that measured new collagen in a standardised test wound, and clinical trials of nutrient mixtures in which arginine was one of several ingredients:

A critical review of amino acid supplementation for wound healing concluded that, although it may seem a reasonable strategy, a number of biochemical and physiological barriers limit what oral amino acids can achieve (Albaugh 2017). The same mixtures are described from the lysine side on the Lysine and Collagen Synthesis page, and in more detail on the Arginine for Wound Healing page.

Immune Function

Arginine is counted among the “immunonutrients”, nutrients studied for their effect on immune cells. The evidence comes from cell studies, small human studies and trials of enteral formulas that contain arginine with other ingredients:

These are described further on the Arginine for Immune Function page.

Growth Hormone Stimulation

Intravenous arginine raises growth hormone (GH). In six healthy men, a 30 g arginine infusion raised mean serum GH from 0.6 to 23.3 micrograms per litre at 60 minutes, and arginine with GHRH raised it further; arginine had no effect on rat pituitary cells in the dish, and the authors concluded that arginine acts by suppressing the body's own somatostatin (Alba-Roth 1988). Arginine-based stimulation is used in diagnosis: the 2007 consensus of the GH Research Society lists the combination of GHRH with arginine among the validated GH stimulation tests in adults (Ho 2007).

Oral arginine has smaller effects. In eight healthy young men tested after an overnight fast, single oral doses of 5 g and 9 g raised GH (area under the curve) compared with placebo; 13 g did not, and caused considerable gastrointestinal distress in most subjects. GH started to rise about 30 minutes after the dose and peaked at about 60 minutes (Collier 2005). In a second study, 7 g of oral arginine raised GH, resistance exercise alone raised it more, and taking arginine before the exercise attenuated the GH response compared with exercise alone (Collier 2006). No trial reviewed for this page showed that the GH rise after oral arginine changes muscle mass, body fat or bone.

Erectile Function and Sexual Health

Erection is a vascular event: nitric oxide released from nerve endings and endothelial cells in the corpus cavernosum raises cyclic GMP, which relaxes smooth muscle so the erectile tissue fills with blood. The drug class of PDE5 inhibitors acts further down the same pathway, by slowing the breakdown of cyclic GMP.

A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis included 10 randomised controlled trials with 540 men with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction. Arginine supplements at 1,500 to 5,000 mg improved erectile dysfunction compared with placebo or no treatment (odds ratio 3.37, 95% CI 1.29 to 8.77), and improved the IIEF sub-scores for overall satisfaction, intercourse satisfaction, orgasmic function and erectile function, but not sexual desire. Adverse effects occurred in 8.3% of men taking arginine and 2.3% of those on placebo, none severe. The analysis covered arginine alone and arginine combined with other substances; the authors note that dosage and duration varied between studies (Rhim 2019).

One much-quoted figure comes from a 3-month study without a placebo group in 40 men aged 25–45 without confirmed organic erectile dysfunction. They took arginine as arginyl aspartate (equivalent to 1.7 g arginine a day) throughout, with French maritime pine bark extract added in the second and third months. After the first month, 2 men (5%) reported a normal erection; after the second, 80%; and after the third, 92.5% (Stanislavov 2003). Because every man received the same sequence and there was no control group, the study cannot separate the effect of the supplements from time or expectation.

Arginine is also required for spermatogenesis (Wu 2009). The male sexual health research is covered on the Arginine and Erectile Function page.

Kidney Function

The kidneys are the main site where the body makes arginine: they take up citrulline released by the small intestine and convert it to arginine, which they release into the blood (Wu 2009).

Because this synthesis happens in the kidney, loss of kidney tissue can change how much arginine the body makes. The studies of arginine supplements in kidney disease, in contrast-dye kidney injury and in kidney transplantation were not reviewed for this page, and no finding about them is stated here. Kidney tests are covered on the Kidney Function page.

Insulin Sensitivity

Whether long-term arginine supplements change the course of blood sugar was tested in the randomised trial below.

In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 144 people with impaired glucose tolerance and metabolic syndrome took 6.4 g of L-arginine or placebo a day for 18 months, on top of a structured lifestyle programme, and were followed for a further 12 months after stopping. At 18 months arginine did not reduce the cumulative incidence of diabetes (21.4% vs 20.8%; hazard ratio 1.04, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.86), but more people returned to normal glucose tolerance (42.4% vs 22.1%; hazard ratio 2.60). At the end of the extended follow-up, the cumulative incidence of diabetes was lower in those who had taken arginine (27.2% vs 47.1%; hazard ratio 0.42). Arginine improved insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function during both periods (Monti 2012).

Low Arginine States

Because healthy adults make their own arginine, dietary arginine deficiency is not described as a disease in healthy adults, and no validated list of symptoms of low arginine was found for this page. Arginine is described as nutritionally essential during fetal and neonatal growth (Wu 2009).

Situations in which the research describes low arginine include:

The opposite situation also exists. In the inherited disorder guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency, in which the body cannot finish making creatine, treatment regimens in a 48-patient series included an arginine-restricted diet, together with creatine and high doses of ornithine, to lower guanidinoacetate (Stockler-Ipsiroglu 2014).

Food Sources

Arginine is found in most protein foods. The US Department of Agriculture's FoodData Central (SR Legacy) lists, per 100 g of food:

These are the same USDA values used on the Lysine to Arginine Ratio page, which also lists each food's lysine content. In the NHANES III survey, mean arginine intake for US adults was 4.40 g a day (King 2008).

Arginine and Herpes Simplex

The idea that arginine matters for herpes comes from cell culture. In 1964 Tankersley reported that in human cells in tissue culture, herpes simplex virus (HSV) produced neither cell damage nor new virus when arginine was withheld, and that infection followed promptly once arginine was replaced; lysine partially inhibited the virus (Tankersley 1964). In 1981 Griffith, DeLong and Nelson reported that arginine deficiency suppressed HSV growth in tissue culture and that lysine antagonised arginine's growth-promoting effect; they proposed that these in-vitro data may be the basis for the view that people prone to herpes lesions abstain from arginine excess (Griffith 1981). These are cell-culture findings, not human results.

No trial was found that tested a dietary lysine-to-arginine ratio, or arginine intake, against herpes recurrence. A 2015 Cochrane review of 32 randomised trials with 2,640 participants, covering 19 treatments for preventing cold sores, found no evidence of efficacy for lysine (Chi 2015). Whether arginine supplements make herpes outbreaks more frequent has not been tested in a trial found for this page. The evidence is set out on the Lysine to Arginine Ratio page.

Supplement Forms and Doses Used in Studies

Arginine is sold in several forms:

Doses used in the trials described on this page:

Side effects and cautions in the research

Decisions about supplements belong with a clinician.

No Recommended Dietary Allowance has been set for arginine, because healthy adults make it themselves.

Factors that raise the body's use of arginine include trauma, sepsis and growth (Wu 2009; Rodriguez 2002).

Key Research Papers

  1. Schulman SP, Becker LC, Kass DA, Champion HC, Terrin ML, Forman S et al. (2006). L-arginine therapy in acute myocardial infarction: the Vascular Interaction With Age in Myocardial Infarction (VINTAGE MI) randomized clinical trial. JAMA 295(1):58-64. — PubMed PMID: 16391217
  2. Dong JY, Qin LQ, Zhang Z, Zhao Y, Wang J, Arigoni F et al. (2011). Effect of oral L-arginine supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. American Heart Journal 162(6):959-65. — PubMed PMID: 22137067
  3. Bode-Böger SM, Scalera F, Ignarro LJ (2007). The L-arginine paradox: Importance of the L-arginine/asymmetrical dimethylarginine ratio. Pharmacology & Therapeutics 114(3):295-306. — PubMed PMID: 17482266
  4. Schwedhelm E, Maas R, Freese R, Jung D, Lukacs Z, Jambrecina A et al. (2008). Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of oral L-citrulline and L-arginine: impact on nitric oxide metabolism. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 65(1):51-9. — PubMed PMID: 17662090
  5. Vadillo-Ortega F, Perichart-Perera O, Espino S, Avila-Vergara MA, Ibarra I, Ahued R et al. (2011). Effect of supplementation during pregnancy with L-arginine and antioxidant vitamins in medical food on pre-eclampsia in high risk population: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 342:d2901. — PubMed PMID: 21596735
  6. Rhim HC, Kim MS, Park YJ, Choi WS, Park HK, Kim HG et al. (2019). The Potential Role of Arginine Supplements on Erectile Dysfunction: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Sexual Medicine 16(2):223-234. — PubMed PMID: 30770070
  7. Stanislavov R, Nikolova V (2003). Treatment of erectile dysfunction with pycnogenol and L-arginine. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 29(3):207-13. — PubMed PMID: 12851125
  8. Collier SR, Casey DP, Kanaley JA (2005). Growth hormone responses to varying doses of oral arginine. Growth Hormone & IGF Research 15(2):136-9. — PubMed PMID: 15809017
  9. Collier SR, Collins E, Kanaley JA (2006). Oral arginine attenuates the growth hormone response to resistance exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology 101(3):848-52. — PubMed PMID: 16741262
  10. Alba-Roth J, Müller OA, Schopohl J, von Werder K (1988). Arginine stimulates growth hormone secretion by suppressing endogenous somatostatin secretion. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 67(6):1186-9. — PubMed PMID: 2903866
  11. Ho KK; 2007 GH Deficiency Consensus Workshop Participants (2007). Consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of adults with GH deficiency II: a statement of the GH Research Society in association with the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology, Lawson Wilkins Society, European Society of Endocrinology, Japan Endocrine Society, and Endocrine Society of Australia. European Journal of Endocrinology 157(6):695-700. — PubMed PMID: 18057375
  12. Barbul A, Lazarou SA, Efron DT, Wasserkrug HL, Efron G (1990). Arginine enhances wound healing and lymphocyte immune responses in humans. Surgery 108(2):331-6; discussion 336-7. — PubMed PMID: 2382229
  13. Kirk SJ, Hurson M, Regan MC, Holt DR, Wasserkrug HL, Barbul A (1993). Arginine stimulates wound healing and immune function in elderly human beings. Surgery 114(2):155-9; discussion 160. — PubMed PMID: 8342121
  14. Williams JZ, Abumrad N, Barbul A (2002). Effect of a specialized amino acid mixture on human collagen deposition. Annals of Surgery 236(3):369-74; discussion 374-5. — PubMed PMID: 12192323
  15. Cereda E, Klersy C, Serioli M, Crespi A, D'Andrea F (2015). A nutritional formula enriched with arginine, zinc, and antioxidants for the healing of pressure ulcers: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 162(3):167-74. — PubMed PMID: 25643304
  16. Armstrong DG, Hanft JR, Driver VR, Smith AP, Lazaro-Martinez JL, Reyzelman AM et al. (2014). Effect of oral nutritional supplementation on wound healing in diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective randomized controlled trial. Diabetic Medicine 31(9):1069-77. — PubMed PMID: 24867069
  17. Albaugh VL, Mukherjee K, Barbul A (2017). Proline Precursors and Collagen Synthesis: Biochemical Challenges of Nutrient Supplementation and Wound Healing. The Journal of Nutrition 147(11):2011-2017. — PubMed PMID: 28978679
  18. Rodriguez PC, Zea AH, Culotta KS, Zabaleta J, Ochoa JB, Ochoa AC (2002). Regulation of T cell receptor CD3zeta chain expression by L-arginine. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 277(24):21123-9. — PubMed PMID: 11950832
  19. Marik PE, Zaloga GP (2010). Immunonutrition in high-risk surgical patients: a systematic review and analysis of the literature. JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 34(4):378-86. — PubMed PMID: 20631383
  20. Bertolini G, Iapichino G, Radrizzani D, Facchini R, Simini B, Bruzzone P et al. (2003). Early enteral immunonutrition in patients with severe sepsis: results of an interim analysis of a randomized multicentre clinical trial. Intensive Care Medicine 29(5):834-40. — PubMed PMID: 12684745
  21. Monti LD, Setola E, Lucotti PC, Marrocco-Trischitta MM, Comola M, Galluccio E et al. (2012). Effect of a long-term oral l-arginine supplementation on glucose metabolism: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism 14(10):893-900. — PubMed PMID: 22553931
  22. Viribay A, Burgos J, Fernández-Landa J, Seco-Calvo J, Mielgo-Ayuso J (2020). Effects of Arginine Supplementation on Athletic Performance Based on Energy Metabolism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients 12(5):1300. — PubMed PMID: 32370176
  23. Trexler ET (2025). Common Errors in Sports Nutrition Meta-Analyses Lead to Distortion of Pooled Effect Estimates. Comment on Viribay et al. Effects of Arginine Supplementation on Athletic Performance Based on Energy Metabolism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients 2020, 12, 1300. Nutrients 17(14):2375. — PubMed PMID: 40733000
  24. Griffith RS, DeLong DC, Nelson JD (1981). Relation of arginine-lysine antagonism to herpes simplex growth in tissue culture. Chemotherapy 27(3):209-13. — PubMed PMID: 6262023
  25. Tankersley RW Jr (1964). Amino acid requirements of herpes simplex virus in human cells. Journal of Bacteriology 87(3):609-13. — PubMed PMID: 14127578
  26. Chi CC, Wang SH, Delamere FM, Wojnarowska F, Peters MC, Kanjirath PP (2015). Interventions for prevention of herpes simplex labialis (cold sores on the lips). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (8):CD010095. — PubMed PMID: 26252373
  27. King DE, Mainous AG 3rd, Geesey ME (2008). Variation in L-arginine intake follow demographics and lifestyle factors that may impact cardiovascular disease risk. Nutrition Research 28(1):21-4. — PubMed PMID: 19083383
  28. Shao A, Hathcock JN (2008). Risk assessment for the amino acids taurine, L-glutamine and L-arginine. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 50(3):376-99. — PubMed PMID: 18325648
  29. Stockler-Ipsiroglu S, van Karnebeek C, Longo N, Korenke GC, Mercimek-Mahmutoglu S, Marquart I et al. (2014). Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency: outcomes in 48 individuals and recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism 111(1):16-25. — PubMed PMID: 24268530
  30. Wu G, Bazer FW, Davis TA, Kim SW, Li P, Rhoads JM et al. (2009). Arginine metabolism and nutrition in growth, health and disease. Amino Acids 37(1):153-68. — PubMed PMID: 19030957
  31. Morris SM Jr (2007). Arginine metabolism: boundaries of our knowledge. The Journal of Nutrition 137(6 Suppl 2):1602S-1609S. — PubMed PMID: 17513435

PubMed Topic Searches

  1. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Metabolism and biochemistry (review)
  2. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Dietary intake and requirements
  3. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Supplementation randomized controlled trials
  4. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Plasma levels and clinical outcomes
  5. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Muscle protein synthesis and exercise
  6. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Deficiency: signs and consequences
  7. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Cardiovascular effects
  8. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Neurological and cognitive effects
  9. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Immune function
  10. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Oxidative stress and antioxidant activity
  11. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Gastrointestinal and gut health
  12. PubMed: Search — Arginine: Safety, toxicity, and upper limit

For a broader literature review, see the full PubMed record for Arginine and the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements Fact Sheets.

This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Decisions about supplements belong with a qualified healthcare provider.

Back to Table of Contents

Connections

Back to Table of Contents

Back to Table of Contents

Arginine — scientific infographic poster