title: Oral administration of L-arginine prevents congestive heart failure in murine viral myocarditis.
abstract: It was previously demonstrated that administration of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) aggravated viral myocarditis in mice. In the current study, the effects of l-arginine, a precursor of nitric oxide, on congestive heart failure (CHF) in myocarditis were evaluated. Dietary l-arginine and l-arginine plus l-NAME (l-arginine + l-NAME group) were administered to encephalomyocarditis virus-infected BALB/c mice over 4 weeks (experiment I) and to encephalomyocarditis virus-infected DBA/2 mice from the 4th through 12th weeks after the virus inoculation (experiment II). An infected control was prepared in each experiment. In experiment I, survival was higher in the l-arginine group compared with the other two groups, and cardiac damage was less, as was incidence of CHF. In addition, extravasated fibrin was less prominent in the l-arginine group. Plasma concentrations of l-arginine and nitric oxide were elevated in the l-arginine group. In experiment II, plasma cardiomyopathic lesions in the l-arginine group were less prominent and were associated with lower plasma catecholamine and lower myocardial collagen concentrations compared with the other two groups. l-arginine treatment may be effective in preventing the development of CHF in viral myocarditis by modifying postmyocarditic architectural remodeling.
authors.affiliation: The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
authors.forename: Chiharu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takada
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ochiai
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018188:Cardiovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004686:Encephalomyocarditis virus / Q000187:drug effects*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D001120:Arginine