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Effects of 7 days of arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation on blood flow, plasma L-arginine, nitric oxide metabolites, and asymmetric dimethyl arginine after resistance exercise

PainSci » bibliography » Willoughby et al 2011
updated
Tags: treatment, self-treatment, medications, exercise, nutrition

One page on PainSci cites Willoughby 2011: Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing

PainSci notes on Willoughby 2011:

A small study showing that arginine supplementation increased the amount of arginine in the blood, but changes in circulatory function were simply due to exercise — that is, they also occurred in people who took only a placebo.

original abstract Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.

BACKGROUND: Arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate (AAKG) supplements are alleged to increase nitric oxide production, thereby resulting in vasodilation during resistance exercise. This study sought to determine the effects of AAKG supplementation on hemodynamics and brachial-artery blood flow and the circulating levels of L-arginine, nitric oxide metabolites (NOx; nitrate/nitrite), asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA), and L-arginine:ADMA ratio after resistance exercise.

METHODS: Twenty-four physically active men underwent 7 days of AAKG supplementation with 12 g/day of either NO(2) Platinum or placebo (PLC). Before and after supplementation, a resistance-exercise session involving the elbow flexors was performed involving 3 sets of 15 repetitions with 70-75% of 1-repetition maximum. Data were collected immediately before, immediately after (PST), and 30 min after (30PST) each exercise session. Data were analyzed with factorial ANOVA (p < .05).

RESULTS: Heart rate, blood pressure, and blood flow were increased in both groups at PST (p = .001) but not different between groups. Plasma L-arginine was increased in the NO(2) group (p = .001). NOx was shown to increase in both groups at PST (p = .001) and at 30PST (p = .001) but was not different between groups. ADMA was not affected between tests (p = .26) or time points (p = .31); however, the L-arginine:ADMA ratio was increased in the NO(2) group (p = .03).

CONCLUSION: NO(2) Platinum increased plasma L-arginine levels; however, the effects observed in hemodynamics, brachial-artery blood flow, and NOx can only be attributed to the resistance exercise.

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