Alterations in the liver histology and markers of metabolic syndrome associated with inflammation and liver damage in L-arginine exposed female Wistar albino rats.

Metabolic Syndrome (MES), a cluster of metabolic disorders, is pandemic and more prevalent in females. It was associated with inflammation, liver damage and reduced nitric oxide concentration. Since L-arginine (ARG) may enhance nitric oxide synthesis, this study investigated the effect of ARG on the liver histology and selected serum markers of MES related to inflammation and liver damage. Two groups (n = 8) of female Wistar albino rats were exposed to 60 mg kg(-1) b. wt. of ARG and 3 mL kg(-1) b.wt. of distilled water, respectively as treated and control groups. Per oral exposure to ARG for twenty eight days caused a non-significant increase (p > 0.05) in the neutrophils count (22.50 +/- 10.35%, representing 38.46%) but a decrease (p > 0.05) in the lymphocytes count (77.50 +/- 10.35%, representing 8.82%) and in the total bilirubin concentration (0.40 +/- 0.19 mg/100 mL, representing 52.38%) of the rats, suggesting non-treatment related influence on these parameters. However, the exposure elicited a significant decrease (p < 0.01) in the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity (66.47 +/- 0.37 IU L(-1), representing 18.55%) and in the total White Blood Cell (WBC) count (2.73 +/- 0.75 x 10(9) L(-1), representing 43.24%), suggesting absence of inflammation and liver damage. ALT had a significant positive correlation with WBC (r = 0.01), while the liver histology revealed possible benefit in the ARG-fed rats, seeminlgly confirming benefit on these markers of inflammation and liver damage that could improve related MES features in the rats. Further studies using ARG rich nuts are required to harness insight gained from this study.