title: The effect of L-citrulline ingestion on ECG QT interval and autonomic nervous system activity.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of L-citrulline ingestion on ECG QT interval. To accomplish this purpose, nine male subjects (age: 23.4±0.5 years, weight: 57.7±5.6 kg) participated, who had no history of cardiovascular or respiratory function disorders. Each subject performed two tests (L-citrulline and placebo ingestion) on a separate day. ECG was taken before, and 60 min and 90 min after L-citrulline ingestion. The heart-rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) decreased significantly 60 min (p=0.0004) and 90 min (p=0.011) after L-citrulline ingestion. However, there were no significant changes after placebo ingestion. In addition, the interaction between L-citrulline ingestion and placebo was significant (two-way ANOVA: interaction, p=0.010). Our major finding was that L-citrulline ingestion decreases the QT interval in healthy subjects. This result suggests that transient L-citrulline ingestion may shorten the time required to complete myocardial depolarization and repolarization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition Science, Sagami Women's Junior College.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kameda
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okigawa
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujibayashi
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asada
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Sadayuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moritani
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D002956:Citrulline / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002956:Citrulline