L-arginine does not improve endothelial function in patients with metabolic syndrome

AIM: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with impaired endothelial function. In this study we investigated whether L-Arginine improves endothelial dysfunction in patients with MS. METHODS: In a randomized double blind study, 38 subjects with MS received either 6.64 g/die of L-Arginine (n=19, group A) or placebo (n=19, group B) for 6 weeks. Flow mediated dilatation (FMD), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, visceral obesity, lipids, blood glucose, insuline, L-arginine, total NOx and symmetric and asymmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA and ADMA) were measured at baseline (T0) and at the end of the study (T6). RESULTS: At baseline, groups A and B differed just for waist circumference (100\ub17 vs. 107\ub112 cm; p