arginine
Meaning of arginine: Arginine is an amino acid the body can make on its own that also serves as a building block for nitric oxide.
Definition of arginine
Arginine, also called L-arginine, is one of the twenty amino acids used to build proteins throughout the body. It is considered a semi-essential, or conditionally essential, amino acid, meaning the body can normally produce enough on its own, but requirements may exceed what the body can make during periods of growth, illness, or injury.
Beyond its role in protein building, arginine serves as the direct precursor to nitric oxide, a signaling molecule that helps relax and widen blood vessels, and it also participates in the urea cycle, the process by which the body removes excess nitrogen produced from protein breakdown.
Arginine is available as a dietary supplement and has been studied for a variety of uses, including wound healing and cardiovascular and circulatory conditions, though evidence supporting these supplemental uses varies and is not established for every claimed benefit.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The patient reported taking an arginine supplement in addition to prescribed cardiovascular medications.
Good to know
Arginine's supply comes from both dietary protein and the body's own production, so a true dietary deficiency is uncommon outside of significant illness, injury, or increased metabolic demand.