Clinical and inflammatory effects of dietary L-arginine in patients with intractable angina pectoris.

We evaluated the effects of oral L-arginine on the clinical outcome and the inflammatory markers of patients with intractable angina pectoris. Our findings demonstrated a significant clinical improvement in 7 of 10 patients, which was associated with a significant decrease in cell adhesion molecule and proinflammatory cytokine levels. Dietary L-arginine may have clinical beneficial effects in patients with intractable angina pectoris, and may have anti-inflammatory properties.