Effect of Arginine Supplementation in the Metabolic Syndrome

The study is a randomized crossover study including 32 subjects with risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome. In a cross-over design, each subject received oral arginine and placebo, in a randomized order, and were studied the day preceding the first day of administration of arginine (or placebo) and after 4 weeks of arginine (or placebo) supplementation. The two periods of supplementation were separated by a washout period of at least 4 weeks.

The subject were studied in the morning (when before supplementation) and in a whole day (when after supplementation).

The mornings cessions consisted of fasting blood draw and vascular explorations, including a measurement of endothelium-dependent brachial artery reactivity ("Flow mediated dilation"), directly coupled to a measurement of post-ischemic digital reactivity (with the Endo-PAT method), completed by a measurement of non-endothelium-dependent brachial artery reactivity. An analysis of the pulse wave geometry was also performed.

The whole-day cession consisted of the same fasting vascular explorations. Blood tests were performed fasting and repeated 2, 4 and 6 h after ingestion of a high-fat meal (900 kcal). Measurements of Flow mediated dilation was repeated 4h and postischemic digital reactivity were repeated 2, 4 and 6 h after ingestion of the high fat meal.

Inclusion criteria

• Age between 18 to 60 years old
• Overweight (BMI between 25 and 30 kg/m²)
• 'Hypertriglyceridemic waist' (waist circumference > 94cm for men or > 88cm for women and fasting triglyceride levels > 150 mg/dL)

Exclusion criteria

• Obesity (BMI> 30 kg / m²)
• Cardiac or vascular diseases
• Diabetes
• Thyroid disease
• Systolic blood pressure > 150 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg
• Tobacco consumption > 6 cigarettes per week
• Alcohol consumption> 2 drinks per day
• Any medication (except contraceptive treatment) or dietary supplement intake that could not be arrested more than a week before the first visit for the duration of the study.
• Persons under guardianship
• Positive Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV
• Hemoglobin < 14 g/dl (for men) or <12 g / dl (for women)
• Participation in a clinical trial within 6 months preceding the study
• Pregnant and lactating women
• For women, menstrual cycle with a duration different from 28 (± 1) days (the cycle is not controlled by a contraceptive treatment at 28 days, or he does not appear spontaneously with regularity)
• Subjects with allergies to final product components
• Contraindications to arginine intake, namely asthmatics subjects, people prone to herpes, patients with liver cirrhosis and renal failure
• Hypotensive patients for whom the use of nitroglycerin is contraindicated.