ABSTRACT
Arginine was isolated from animal horn tissue and also from lupine seedlings in the late 19th century. In addition to its unique role as the substrate to NO synthesis,
-arginine has many important biochemical functions: immunoreactivity, release of growth hormones glucagon and insulin, amino acid detoxification, synthesis of creatinine and polyamines, etc. The crucial role of
-arginine as the precursor of NO formation has stimulated the basic and clinical research to answer the question of whether an increase in the daily intake of
-arginine could have beneficial effects on the vascular endothelial function in diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and renal diseases, in which it has been shown to be impaired.
