Arginine is one of the most versatile semi-essential amino acids. Further to the primary role in protein biosynthesis, arginine is involved in the urea cycle, and it is a precursor of nitric oxide. Arginine deficiency is associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases (AD). In this study, we administer arginine intracerebroventricularly in a murine model of AD and evaluate cognitive functions in a set of behavioral tests. In addition, the effect of arginine on synaptic plasticity was tested electrophysiologically by assessment of the hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). The effect of arginine on β amyloidosis was tested immunohistochemically. A role of arginine in the prevention of cytotoxicity and apoptosis was evaluated in vitro on PC-12 cells. The results indicate that intracerebroventricular administration of arginine improves spatial memory acquisition in 3xTg-AD mice, however, without significantly reducing intraneuronal β amyloidosis. Arginine shows little or no impact on LTP and does not rescue LTP deterioration induced by Aβ. Nevertheless, arginine possesses neuroprotective and antiapoptotic properties.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; L-arginine; amyloid beta; apoptosis; cytotoxicity; spatial memory.