L-arginine increases prolactin levels?
So after seeing an off-hand comment by a poster on a bodybuilding forum, I decided to look this one up, it looks like he might’ve been right:
Effects of L-arginine supplementation on exercise metabolism - PubMed
In addition, L-arginine infusion at rest increases plasma insulin, growth hormone, glucagon, catecholamines and prolactin.
also:
Prolactin response to arginine in normal subjects and in patients with hyperthyroidism.
Onishi T, Itoh KF, Miyai K, Shima K, Kumahara Y.
The effect of arginine on serum prolactin concentrations was studied in 18 normal subjects and in 7 patients with hyperthyroidism in normal subjects, arginine infusion produced an increase of serum prolactin at least 6 ng/ml from the baseline, and the mean peak level (25.2 +/- 3.3 ng/ml, mean +/- SE) was significantly higher than the basal level (8.6 +/- 5.2 ng/ml, P less than 0.001). There was no significant difference in the peak levels between sexes. Unlike prolactin, concomitant serum thyrotropin levels did not change after the arginine infusion. In hyperthyroid patients, the increment of serum prolactin after arginine infusion at 30 min (3.9 +/- 1.5 ng/ml) was significantly lower than that of the normal controls which were matched by age and sex (17.1 +/- 4.4 ng/ml, P less than 0.05). After treatment when these patients were euthyroid, the increment of prolactin after arginine infusion at 30 min was significantly increased (16.3 +/- 4.3 ng/ml, P less than 0.05) and had reached the level of control subjects. These data indicate that the prolactin response to arginine in hyperthyroidism is diminished.
PMID: 1249182 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
So while the vasodilation properties are great, prolactin increase is DEFINITELY something we wouldn’t want. Thoughts?
