AUTHOR=Mone Pasquale , Pansini Antonella , Jankauskas Stanislovas S. , Varzideh Fahimeh , Kansakar Urna , Lombardi Angela , Trimarco Valentina , Frullone Salvatore , Santulli Gaetano 

TITLE=L-Arginine Improves Cognitive Impairment in Hypertensive Frail Older Adults

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.868521

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2022.868521

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=<p>Cognitive impairment is a prevailing event in hypertensive patients and in frail older adults. Endothelial dysfunction has been shown to underlie both hypertension and cognitive dysfunction. Our hypothesis is that L-Arginine, which is known to ameliorate endothelial dysfunction, could counteract cognitive impairment in a high-risk population of hypertensive frail older adults. We designed a clinical trial to verify the effects of 4-weeks oral supplementation of L-Arginine on global cognitive function of hypertensive frail older patients. The study was successfully completed by 35 frail hypertensive elderly patients assigned to L-Arginine and 37 assigned to placebo. At follow-up, we found a significant difference in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test score between the L-Arginine treated group and placebo (<italic>p</italic>: 0.0178). Moreover, we demonstrated that L-Arginine significantly attenuates Angiotensin II-induced mitochondrial oxidative stress in human endothelial cells. In conclusion, our findings indicate for the first time that oral L-Arginine supplementation significantly improves cognitive impairment in frail hypertensive older adults.</p><sec><title>Clinical Trial Registration</title><p><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">www.ClinicalTrials.gov</ext-link>, identifier: NCT04962841.</p></sec>