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Antioxidant-Amino
Acid
Mix Shields Blood Vessels
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
A cocktail of antioxidants mixed with an amino acid may protect
blood vessels from inflammation and the buildup of plaque, a preliminary
study suggests.
According to the report, antioxidants
and L-arginine, an amino acid, protected the cells of human blood
vessels from the wear and tear of fluid rushing by.
Branch points, areas where two
vessels meet, are particularly vulnerable because they are exposed
to turbulent shear-stress, a type of force imposed by the flow
of blood that can cause inflammation and plaque build up leading
to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
Shear-stress can also increase
damage from free radicals, compounds that can cause varying degrees
of damage to cells, researchers report in the online early edition
of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
To investigate if antioxidants
and L-arginine might prevent this type of damage, researchers
exposed human cells to different fluid flow forces inside a culture
dish.
High shear-stress caused cells
to produce inflammatory compounds. However, fewer dangerous compounds
were produced when cells were coated with antioxidants and L-arginine.
These substances also caused the cells to produce eNOS (endothelial
nitric oxide synthase), an enzyme that allows vessels to expand
and prevents blood from clotting.
Antioxidants have been shown to
squelch free radicals while L-arginine is a precursor of nitric
oxide, a compound that helps the inner lining of blood vessels
to dilate.
In a second experiment, researchers
demonstrated that these compounds reduced the damage caused by
shear-stress in mice bred to have high cholesterol.
"These results demonstrate that
atherogenic effects induced by turbulent shear-stress can be prevented
by co-treatment with antioxidants and L-arginine," Dr. Louis J.
Ignarro from the University of California in Los Angeles and colleagues
conclude.
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences 2003;10.1073.
Reference
Source 89
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