Arginine-containing compounds and thymic endocrine activity.

The frequent association of malnutrition, infectious disease and aging has stressed the role played by some nutrients on the immune efficiency and particularly on the age-dependent immunological decline. Since arginine has been proven to enhance immune efficiency as demonstrated by the observation that supplemental dietary arginine accelerates would healing and increases thymus weight, we have evaluated the influence of oral administration of arginine on the age-associated immune deficiencies and in particular on the reduced thymic endocrine activity, as measured by the circulating level of one of the best known thymic peptides, i.e. thymulin. Thirty days oral treatment with arginine at the dose of 0.03 g/Kg b.w./day in 20 month old mice induces a full recovery of thymic endocrine activity and a significant increase of PHA responsiveness by spleen cells, when compared with untreated age-matched controls. In humans, oral administration of a commercially available arginine-lysin combination (Lysargin, Baldacci, Pisa, Italia) at the dose of 4 gr. of arg. + 4 gr. of Lysine induces a significant increment of thymulin blood level both in elderly and in cancer patients and at peripheral level, an increase of CD4+ lymphocyte subpopulation. These findings confirm the immunomodulation role of arginine and suggest that on the target of arginine as the thymus and particularly its endocrine activity. Furthermore arginine and arginine-containing compounds may offer a new therapeutical approach to restore thymic immunodeficiencies associated with age or secondary to pathologies inducing thymic deterioration such as trauma, stress and cancer.