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Health News Archive 399 - Malaria
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L-Arginine May Help Prevent Malaria in Children

The amino acid L-arginine may be helpful in preventing and treating children with malaria, according to a 2003 research letter in The Lancet. 

The researchers identified an inverse correlation between plasma L-arginine concentrations and severity of malaria in Tanzanian children.  The body uses arginine to produce nitric oxide (NO).  In vitro experiments have shown that NO is anti-parasitic.  It may also protect against malaria by decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines and by lessening endothelial cell surface adhesion, thereby preventing protozoa from adhering to cells.  The most severe form of malaria - cerebral malaria - is characterized by the adherence of parasite-containing red blood cells to the lining of blood vessels, which obstructs blood flow to the brain.  In the Tanzanian study, ". . . hypoargininemia was significantly associated with cerebral malaria case-fatality."  In addition to limiting NO production, arginine deficiency causes the body to produce more superoxide, a highly reactive form of oxygen, increasing oxidative damage. 

The researchers are unsure if hypoargininemia is the cause or the result of severe disease.  They do not, however, believe that the arginine deficiency present in children with malaria is dietary, because no deficiencies of glutamine, glutamate, and the essential amino acid L-histidine accompany it.  The researchers call for clinical trials that investigate prophylactic and therapeutic benefits from adjunctive use of L-arginine, taken in combination with anti-malaria drugs.

Source: Arginine may help prevent malaria in children, DukeMed (no date available).

Lopanasri BK, Anstey NM, Weinberg JB, et al.  Low plasma arginine concentrations in children with cerebral malaria and decreased nitric oxide production.  The Lancet, 361 (February 22, 2003) 676-678. Available at: www.thelancet.com.  Accessed on April 12, 2006.

Reprinted with exclusive permission of Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients - July 2006.