title: Dietary supplementation with L-arginine or placebo in women with pre-eclampsia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the effect of dietary intake of the NO-donor L-arginine on the diastolic blood pressure in women with pre-eclampsia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A randomized double-blind study was designed to compare the effect of L-arginine and placebo in pre-eclamptic women with gestational length ranging from 28+0 to 36+0 weeks. The women received orally 12 g of L-arginine or placebo daily for up to 5 days. The primary end-point was to identify a difference in diastolic blood pressure alteration between the two groups after 2 days of intervention. Secondary end-points included the interval from study start to delivery, the proportion of women delivered after 2, 5 or 10 days from treatment start and mean birth weight.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no statistically significant alteration in diastolic blood pressure in the L-arginine group compared with the placebo group after 2 days of treatment (p = 0.4). No differences in the proportions of women delivered by day 2, 5 or 10 after study start, in the mean interval from study start to delivery, or in mean birth weight percentile were observed between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral L-arginine supplementation did not reduce mean diastolic blood pressure after 2 days of treatment compared with placebo in pre-eclamptic patients with gestational length varying from 28 to 36 weeks. Whether L-arginine treatment could be clinically beneficial for the mother or the fetus if started earlier in the disease process than for the women in our study remains to be seen.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ulleval University Hospital, Kirkeveien 166, 0450 Oslo, Norway. annetine.staff@ulleval.no
authors.forename: Anne Cathrine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Staff
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berge
authors.forename: Guttorm
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Haugen
authors.forename: Bjorg
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lorentzen
authors.forename: Bente
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mikkelsen
authors.forename: Tore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Henriksen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001120:Arginine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D001120:Arginine