Effect of L-arginine intake on exercise-induced hypotension

• Published in: Nutrición hospitalaria : organo oficial de la Sociedad Española de Nutrición Parenteral y Enteral Vol. 35; no. 5; pp. 1195 - 1200
• Main Authors: Ferreira de Lima, Fabiano, Feitosa da Silva, Taís, Miranda Neto, Manoel, Tavares Toscano, Luciana, Surama Oliveira da Silva, Cássia, Silva, Alexandre Sérgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Grupo Arán 01-10-2018
• Subjects: Nutrition & Dietetics; Hypertension; Ejercicio; Post-exercise hypotension; Exercise; Presión sanguínea; Hipotensión post-ejercicio; L-arginina; Hipertensión; Blood pressure; L-arginine
• ISSN: 1699-5198
• DOI: 10.20960/nh.1708

Abstract Objective: to verify if one single dose of L-arginine improves post-exercise hypotension (PEH) in hypertensive. Methods: double-blind, placebo, randomized with 20 hypertensive (51.47 ± 1.24 years). Two sessions of aerobic exercise were performed proceeded for the ingestion of one dose of 7 g of L-arginine (EX-LARG) or placebo (EX-PLA), plus one session only with L-arginine ingestion (L-ARG). Blood pressure (BP) was measured at rest, and each ten minutes for a period of 60 minutes recovery after exercise. Blood samples were taken before and after exercise for analysis of plasma concentration of nitrite and malondialdehyde (MDA). One-way ANOVA tests were used to compare the baseline conditions and two-way ANOVA, to evaluate possible differences in pressure responses between procedures. Results: both sessions EX-LARG and EX-PLA showed similar peak reduction for the mean systolic blood pressure (-6.58 ± 0.95 mmHg and -8.38 ± 1.29 mmHg respectively, p = 0.28). On the other hand, for the diastolic component, only L-ARG was able to promote PEH (-1.85 ± 0.44 mmHg), significantly better than EX-PLA (+2.13 ± 0.62 mmHg; p < 0.01). L-ARG alone did not result in significant changes in BP. Nitrite and MDA behaved similarly between procedures. Conclusion: a single dose of L-arginine before exercise improves diastolic PEH.