J Appl Biomed 6:203-210, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.024

The effect of L-arginine on serum lipids and nitrite levels, and the number of apoptotic cells, iNOS and eNOS expressions of aorta after the formation of fatty streaks in rabbit

Mehdi Nematbakhsh^*, Shaghayegh Haghjooyjavanmard, Farzaneh Mahmoodi, Ali Reza Monajemi

Applied Physiology Research Center and Department of Physiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

The L-arginine is the substrate of nitric oxide production which is involved in the regulation of apoptosis and inflammatory processes. The effect of L-arginine after fatty streaks formation has not been fully understood in hypercholesterolemic model; therefore the main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of L-arginine after fatty streaks were developed in rabbit's aorta. Eighteen male rabbits were fed 1% cholesterol diet for four weeks. One third of the animals were sacrificed randomly to verify fatty streaks formation in the aorta (phase I). Then the high cholesterol diet was replaced with normal diet, and the remaining animals (n=12) were divided into two groups (phase II); group 1 (n=6): normal diet and group 2 (n=6): normal diet plus L-arginine (3% in drinking water). The experiment was continued for more four weeks. The serum levels of lipids and lipoproteins were increased significantly in phase I (p

Keywords: L-arginine; nitric oxide; iNOS; eNOS; apoptosis; hypercholesterolemia

Received: May 6, 2008; Revised: November 6, 2008; Published: July 31, 2008  Show citation