Arginine: an essential amino acid for injured rats

The influence of arginine supplements on growth and healing of skin incisional wounds was studied in rats fed either a chemically defined diet lacking arginine or a laboratory chow containing 1.8% arginine. Rats fed the arginine-free diet grew more poorly than did arginine-supplemented rats (1.8 vs. 7.0 gm/day) in the preoperative period. After operation arginine-deficient animals grew very poorly (1 gm/day), while arginine-supplemented rats gained 4.3 gm/day. Arginine-deficient animals showed impaired wound healing, as judged by the breaking strengths of their incisions 10 days after wounding (228 vs. 293 gm for the arginine-supplemented rats). Arginine-deficient rats also showed decreased collagen deposition in a specific wound site, as indicated by the decreased content in hydroxyproline in sponge granulomas (2.5 vs. 4.2 mg/100 mg. of sponge for the arginine-supplemented rats). In rats fed commercial chow, 1% arginine decreased the postoperative weight loss associated with injury (0.7 vs. 5.2 gm) in one experiment and improved wound strength in two experiments (312 vs. 188 gm in one experiment and 309 vs. 246 gm in another). Arginine also increased hydroxyproline deposition in a specific wound area (5.5 vs. 4.1 mg in one experiment and 3.1 vs. 1.9 mg. in another). It is concluded that arginine has two roles in wounded animals. It is essential for the synthesis of the increased amounts of reparative collagen required for wound healing, and it decreases some of the negative aspects of the metabolic responses to injury. These are thought to be associated with an arginine-induced growth hormone release.