L-Arginine and L-Citrulline Supplementation Have Different Programming Effect on Regulatory T-Cells Function of Infantile Rats

Abstract

Arginine is a semiessential amino acid in healthy adult human, but is essential for preterm, newborn or critically ill patients. Arginine can be supplied from our diet or de novo synthesis from citrulline. In conditions of sepsis or endotoxemia, arginine may be deficient and be accompanied with altered immune response. L-arginine supplementation can ameliorate dysregulated immune condition and improve prognosis. Many studies had tried L-arginine or L-citrulline supplementation to examine the effect on immune response in the adult population. Few had studied on the young children. In this study, we determined the effect of L-arginine and L-citrulline supplementation on the immune response of infantile rats. Male infantile rats received normal saline, L-arginine (200 mg/kg/day) or L-citrulline (200 mg/kg/day) intraperitoneally over postnatal day 8 to day 14. The infantile rats were then sacrificed. The blood was analyzed while the spleen was indicated for immune analysis after stimulation with concanavalin A (Con A) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We found L-arginine supplementation enhanced Th1 immune response by increasing IFN-γ production. Both the L-arginine and L-citrulline therapy can modulate regulatory T-cell (Treg) immune effects by increasing the IL-10 level. Only the L-citrulline group showed a TGF-β1 increase. Both L-arginine and L-citrulline therapy were also noted to decrease SMAD7 expression and enhance SIRT-1 abundance. However, FOXP3 expression was only modulated by L-citrulline treatment. We then concluded that L-arginine and L-citrulline supplementation can modulate the regulatory T-cells function differently for infantile rats.

Potential Implications of Citrulline and Quercetin on Gut Functioning of Monogastric Animals and Humans: A Comprehensive Review

“…In diabetic obese rats, the associated macrophage dysfunction was attenuated with citrulline administration to initiate NO production and regulation of TNF-α and IL-6 cytokines [141]. In infantile rats, both L-arginine and L-citrulline modulated regulatory T-cell functions [142]. Plasma citrulline further reflects on acute intestinal impairment, since it decreases at the onset of digestive bacterial translocation and septic shock [143].…”

Maternal Resveratrol Treatment Re-Programs and Maternal High-Fat Diet-Induced Retroperitoneal Adiposity in Male Offspring

“…qRT-PCR was performed as described previously [21,23]. In brief, five micrograms of the total RNA from adipose tissue were reverse-transcribed with the indicated transcriptase (Invitrogen).…”

Binding ability of arginine, citrulline, N-acetyl citrulline and thiocitrulline with SARS COV-2 main protease using molecular docking studies

“…High-throughput screening of molecules for drugability was generally based on the Lipinski’s rule (Lipinski 2000 ; Lipinski et al 2001 ). Therefore, we have screened and chosen the N -acetyl citrulline, citrulline, thiocitrulline and arginine as these molecules have exhibited beneficial effects in enhancement of immune system (Karolina et al 2015 ; Lee et al 2018 ). In Table 1 , the properties of Arginine, citrulline, N -acetyl citrulline and thiocitrulline which fullfil Lipinski’s five rule are shown.…”