title: Supplementation with apple enriched with L-arginine may improve metabolic control and survival rate in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.
abstract: Supplementation with L-arginine or fresh food with high content of this amino acid is associated with favorable effects in the metabolic control of diabetes. We aimed to determine whether supplementation with apples enriched with L-arginine offer additional benefits compared to L-arginine by itself in a preclinical study of diabetes. This study combines food-engineer technologies with in vivo and in vitro analysis. In vitro experiments show that cells derived from non-diabetic animals and exposed to high glucose (25 mM, 12 H) and cells isolated from alloxan-induced diabetic animals exhibited a reduction (∼50%) in the L-arginine uptake. This effect was reverted by L-arginine pretreatment (12 H) in both the normal and diabetes-derived cells. In preclinical studies, normoglycemic (n = 25) and diabetic groups (n = 50) were divided into subgroups that received either L-arginine (375 mg/kg per 10 days) or apple enriched with L-arginine or vehicle (control). In a preliminary analysis, supplementation with L-arginine by itself (50%) or apple enriched with L-arginine (100%) improve survival rate in the diabetic group compared to control (0%) at the end of the follow up (17 days). This phenomenon was associated with a partial but sustained high plasma level of L-arginine, as well as plasma concentration of nitrites and insulin in the L-arginine or apple + L-arginine groups after supplementation. Apple + L-arginine supplementation in diabetic animals induced the highest and longest effects in the level of these three markers among the studied groups. Therefore, apple enriched by L-arginine offers more benefits than L-arginine by itself in this preclinical study.
authors.affiliation: Vascular Physiology Laboratory and Group of Investigation in Tumor Angiogenesis (GIANT), Department of Basic Sciences, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chillán, Chile.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Escudero
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petzold
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Junod
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aguayo
authors.forename: Jesenia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Acurio
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Escudero
mesh_terms: D000496:Alloxan; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D001682:Biological Availability; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D027845:Malus; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D000496:Alloxan; D001120:Arginine
keywords: L-arginine supplementation; L-arginine transport; diabetes; functional foods; preclinical trial