Acute arginine supplementation does not influence post-aerobic exercise hypotension

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of acute arginine supplementation (ARG) on post-exercise hypotension (HPE). For this, 12 physically active young men participated in this randomized, double-blind crossover clinical trial. All were submitted to two experimental conditions (ARG or placebo – PLA). 45 minutes after supplementation, all participants performed 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (70-75% of reserve heart rate). Heart rate and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured before, 30 and 60 minutes after exercise. In comparison with pre-exercise means, there was a lower systolic blood pressure until to 60 min post-exercise (117.3±6.5 vs. 109.6±7.2 mmHg, p=0.001), lower mean arterial blood pressure (89.1±7.0 vs. 83.8±8.2 mmHg, p=0.024), increased heart rate (67.1±11.9 vs. 84.8±6.8 bpm, p=0.001) and the double product (7988±1372 vs. 9734±990 mmHg.bpm, p=0.006) until 30 min post-exercise. However, there was no significant difference between experimental conditions. Using the methods applied, our results demonstrated no effect of acute ARG supplementation on aerobic HPE in physically active young men.