Implications and potential interest in pharmaconutrition with arginine in the intensive care patients

Abstract

Arginine is a nonessential amino acid and the substrate for different enzymes, including arginase and nitric oxide (NO) synthase. It is the precursor for the synthesis of urea, NO, creatine, and agmatine. In adults, arginine is involved in many biological functions, both in physiology and pathology, including cellular immunity, protein synthesis, and wound healing. Over the past years, arginine and arginase inhibitors have thus aroused a particular interest and were studied in different animal models. However, a supplementation with arginine in pathology remains controversial. This review focuses on the different properties of arginine to try to investigate the exact place of this amino acid in therapy.