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Cited by 119Muscle metabolism and nutritionBiochemical effects in animalsSports Performance and Training

Potential Ergogenic Effects of Arginine and Creatine Supplementation

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Paddon-Jones, Douglas, Børsheim, Elisabet, Wolfe, Robert R.·2004·The Journal of Nutrition
DOI 10.1093/jn/134.10.2888s
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Abstract

The rationale for the use of nutritional supplements to enhance exercise capacity is based on the assumption that they will confer an ergogenic effect above and beyond that afforded by regular food ingestion alone. The proposed or advertised ergogenic effect of many supplements is based on a presumptive metabolic pathway and may not necessarily translate to quantifiable changes in a variable as broadly defined as exercise performance. L-arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid that has received considerable attention due to potential effects on growth hormone secretion and nitric oxide production. In some clinical circumstances (e.g., burn injury, sepsis) in which the demand for arginine cannot be fully met by de novo synthesis and normal dietary intake, exogenous arginine has been shown to facilitate the maintenance of lean body mass and functional capacity. However, the evidence that supplemental arginine may also confer an ergogenic effect in normal healthy individuals is less compelling. In contrast to arginine, numerous studies have reported that supplementation with the arginine metabolite creatine facilitates an increase in anaerobic work capacity and muscle mass when accompanied by resistance training programs in both normal and patient populations. Whereas improvement in the rate of phosphocreatine resynthesis is largely responsible for improvements in acute work capacity, the direct effect of creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle protein synthesis is less clear. The purpose of this review is to summarize the role of arginine and its metabolite creatine in the context of a nutrition supplement for use in conjunction with an exercise stimulus in both healthy and patient populations.

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  • Arginine has been linked with the ability to increase exercise performance, increase growth hormone production, support immune function, increase training tolerance and promote accretion of fat-free mass.

    “Arginine is known as a conditionally essential amino acid which has been linked with the ability to increase exercise performance, increase growth hormone production, support immune function, increase training tolerance and promote accretion of fat-free mass [273, 636].”

    From ISSN exercise & sports nutrition review update: research & recommendations (2018) · cites this paper as [636]

    The sections on arginine’s effects on exercise performance, hormone secretion, and supplementation in patient populations link it to improved strength and lean body mass in a combined arginine–ornithine study, growth-hormone release in some circumstances, and improved immune function in an animal burn model. The paper reports improved exercise tolerance in patients with cardiovascular disease, not increased training tolerance generally; it associates improved training capacity with creatine. It also describes evidence for arginine’s ergogenic effects in healthy people as equivocal. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Zhang, X. J., Irtun, O., Chinkes, D. L. & Wolfe, R. R. (2004) Responses of muscle blood flow and protein metabolism to femoral artery clamp. Am. J. Physiol. (In press).
  2. Hildreth, M. & Gottschlich, M. (1996) Nutritional support of the burned patient. In: Total Burn Care (Herndon, D. N., ed.), p. 240.
  3. W.B Saunders Company Ltd., London, UK.

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Authors
Paddon-Jones, D., Børsheim, E., & Wolfe, R. R.
Affiliations
Shriners Hospitals for Children - Galveston (US)
Corresponding author
Wolfe, Robert R.
ORCID
Venue
The Journal of Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2004-10
Volume
134
Issue
10
Pages
2888S-2894S
ISSN
0022-3166 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1093/jn/134.10.2888s
OpenAlex
W1907895380
Cited by
119
References
97
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 5
FWCI
0.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAG91155)
  • National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NPFR00205)
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (5R01 GM 57295, R01GM057295)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Biochemical effects in animals
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
Keywords
arginine supplementation, creatine supplementation, ergogenic aids, exercise performance, nitric oxide, growth hormone secretion, phosphocreatine resynthesis, resistance training, muscle protein synthesis, lean body mass, anaerobic capacity, dietary supplements
MeSH terms
Arginine, Creatine, Energy Metabolism, Humans, Physical Endurance, Dietary Supplements

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