CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 77Muscle metabolism and nutritionCardiovascular and exercise physiologyExercise and Physiological Responses

Bolus Arginine Supplementation Affects neither Muscle Blood Flow nor Muscle Protein Synthesis in Young Men at Rest or After Resistance Exercise

Open access
Tang, Jason E., Lysecki, Paul J., Manolakos, Joshua J., MacDonald, Maureen J., Tarnopolsky, Mark A., Phillips, Stuart M.·2011·The Journal of Nutrition
DOI 10.3945/jn.110.130138
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the ergogenic potential of arginine on NO synthesis, muscle blood flow, and skeletal muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Eight healthy young men (22.1 ± 2.6 y, 1.79 ± 0.06 m, 76.6 ± 6.2 kg; mean ± SD) participated in 2 trials where they performed a bout of unilateral leg resistance exercise and ingested a drink containing either 10 g essential amino acids with 10 g l-arginine (ARG) or an isonitrogenous control (CON). Femoral artery blood flow of both the nonexercised and exercised leg was measured continuously using pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound, while rates of mixed and myofibrillar MPS were determined using a primed continuous infusion of L-[ring-(13)C(6)] or L-[ring-(2)H(5)]phenylalanine. The plasma arginine concentration increased 300% during the ARG trial but not during the CON trial (P < 0.001). Plasma nitrate, nitrite, and endothelin-1, all markers of NO synthesis, did not change during either the ARG or CON trial. Plasma growth hormone increased to a greater degree after exercise in the ARG trial than CON trial (P < 0.05). Femoral artery blood flow increased 270% above basal in the exercised leg (P < 0.001) but not in the nonexercised leg, with no differences between the ARG and CON trials. Mixed and myofibrillar MPS were both greater in the exercised leg compared with the nonexercised leg (P < 0.001), but did not differ between the ARG and CON treatments. We conclude that an oral bolus (10 g) of arginine does not increase NO synthesis or muscle blood flow. Furthermore, arginine does not enhance mixed or myofibrillar MPS either at rest or after resistance exercise beyond that achieved by feeding alone.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3945/jn.110.130138

Cites

41 of 41 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Tang et al. reported that arginine administration failed to impact muscle protein synthesis or femoral artery blood flow.

    “These authors reported that arginine administration failed to impact muscle protein synthesis or femoral artery blood flow.”

    From ISSN exercise &amp; sports nutrition review update: research &amp; recommendations (2018) · cites this paper as [274]

  • The Tang study and others failed to link the increase in growth hormone to changes in rates of muscle protein synthesis.

    “Regardless, the Tang study [274] and others [276, 277] failed to link the increase in growth hormone to changes in rates of muscle protein synthesis.”

    From ISSN exercise &amp; sports nutrition review update: research &amp; recommendations (2018) · cites this paper as [274]

  • Growth hormone levels did rise in response to arginine ingestion, which contrasts with Forbes et al. who reported a blunting of growth hormone production after acute ingestion of arginine in strength trained males.

    “Growth hormone levels did rise in response to arginine ingestion, which contrasts with the findings of Forbes et al., [275] who reported a blunting of growth hormone production after acute ingestion of arginine in strength trained males.”

    From ISSN exercise &amp; sports nutrition review update: research &amp; recommendations (2018) · cites this paper as [274]

    The citation is attached to the report that Forbes et al. found blunted growth hormone production in strength-trained males. The Results and Discussion report a greater growth hormone response with arginine in this paper’s own participants, but the retrieved passages do not address a Forbes study or its findings (searched: Forbes, blunting, strength-trained males). (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Rennie MJ, Tipton KD. Protein and amino acid metabolism during and after exercise and the effects of nutrition. Annu Rev Nutr. 2000;20:457-83.
  2. Fleming I, Busse RNO. The primary EDRF. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 1999;31:5-14.
  3. Wolfe RR, Chinkes D. Isotope tracers in metabolic research. New York: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.; 2005.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Tang, J. E., Lysecki, P. J., Manolakos, J. J., MacDonald, M. J., Tarnopolsky, M. A., & Phillips, S. M.
Affiliations
McMaster University (CA)
Corresponding author
Phillips, Stuart M.
ORCID
Venue
The Journal of Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2011-02
Volume
141
Issue
2
Pages
195-200
ISSN
0022-3166 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3945/jn.110.130138
OpenAlex
W2034429183
Cited by
77
References
41
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 8
FWCI
3.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
Keywords
arginine supplementation, resistance training, muscle blood flow, muscle protein synthesis, nitric oxide production, ergogenic aids, essential amino acids, growth hormone, endothelin-1, plasma arginine, myofibrillar protein synthesis, femoral blood flow
MeSH terms
Arginine, Femoral Artery, Humans, Male, Muscle Proteins, Myofibrils, Nitrates, Nitric Oxide, Nitrites, Regional Blood Flow, Rest, Protein Biosynthesis, Exercise, Muscle, Skeletal, Endothelin-1, Human Growth Hormone, Dietary Supplements, Resistance Training, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review