Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar 3;15(5):1268.
doi: 10.3390/nu15051268.

Dietary Arginine and Citrulline Supplements for Cardiovascular Health and Athletic Performance: A Narrative Review

Hun-Young Park  1   2 , Sung-Woo Kim  1   2 , Jisoo Seo  2 , Yanghoon P Jung  3 , Hyunji Kim  3 , Ah-Jin Kim  3 , Sonwoo Kim  3 , Kiwon Lim  1   2   4
Affiliations
Review

Dietary Arginine and Citrulline Supplements for Cardiovascular Health and Athletic Performance: A Narrative Review

Hun-Young Park et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The global market for nutritional supplements (NS) is growing rapidly, and the use of L-arginine (Arg), L-citrulline (Cit), and citrulline malate (CitMal) supplements has been shown to enhance cardiovascular health and athletic performance. Over the past decade, Arg, Cit, and CitMal supplements have received considerable attention from researchers in the field of exercise nutrition, who have investigated their potential effects on hemodynamic function, endothelial function, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, strength, power, and endurance. Previous studies were reviewed to determine the potential impact of Arg, Cit, and CitMal supplements on cardiovascular health and exercise performance. By synthesizing the existing literature, the study aimed to provide insight into the possible uses and limitations of these supplements for these purposes. The results showed that both recreational and trained athletes did not see improved physical performance or increased nitric oxide (NO) synthesis with 0.075 g or 6 g doses of Arg supplement per body weight. However, 2.4 to 6 g of Cit per day for 7 to 16 days of various NSs had a positive impact, increasing NO synthesis, enhancing athletic performance indicators, and reducing feelings of exertion. The effects of an 8 g acute dose of CitMal supplement were inconsistent, and more research is needed to determine its impact on muscle endurance performance. Based on the positive effects reported in previous studies, further testing is warranted in various populations that may benefit from nutritional supplements, including aerobic and anaerobic athletes, resistance-trained individuals, elderly people, and clinical populations, to determine the impact of different doses, timing of ingestion, and long-term and acute effects of Arg, Cit, and CitMal supplements on cardiovascular health and athletic performance.

Keywords: L-Arginine; L-Citrulline; athletic performance; cardiovascular health; citrulline malate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
NOS through the Arg and Cit pathway. iNOS, cytokine-induced nitric oxide synthase; eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; NO, nitric oxide; GC, guanylate cyclase; GTP, guanosine triphosphate; cGMP, cyclic guanosine monophosphate.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Arg and Cit pathway in exercise performance. eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; NO, nitric oxide.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Nyawose S., Naidoo R., Naumovski N., McKune A.J. The Effects of Consuming Amino Acids L-Arginine, L-Citrulline (and Their Combination) as a Beverage or Powder, on Athletic and Physical Performance: A Systematic Review. Beverages. 2022;8:48. doi: 10.3390/beverages8030048. - DOI
    1. Hys K. Perspectives on Consumer Behaviour. Springer; Cham, Switzerland: 2020. Identification of the reasons why individual consumers purchase dietary supplements; pp. 193–209.
    1. Research G.V. Dietary Supplements Market Size Worth $327.4 Billion By 2030. [(accessed on 15 November 2022)]. Available online: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-dietary-supplemen....
    1. Binns C.W., Lee M.K., Lee A.H. Problems and Prospects: Public Health Regulation of Dietary Supplements. Annu. Rev. Public Health. 2018;39:403–420. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-013638. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cohen P.A., Bass S. Injecting Safety into Supplements—Modernizing the Dietary Supplement Law. N. Engl. J. Med. 2019;381:2387–2389. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1913004. - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.

LinkOut - more resources