Abstract
Based on the hypothesis that mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and strokelike episodes (MELAS) are caused by impaired vasodilation in an intracerebral artery, the authors evaluated the effects of administering l-arginine, a nitric oxide precursor. Patients were administered L-arginine intravenously at the acute phase or orally at the interictal phase. L-arginine infusions significantly improved all strokelike symptoms, suggesting that oral administration within 30 minutes of a stroke significantly decreased frequency and severity of strokelike episodes.
Publication types
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Clinical Trial
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Controlled Clinical Trial
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Administration, Oral
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Adolescent
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Adult
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Amino Acids / blood
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Arginine / administration & dosage
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Arginine / analogs & derivatives
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Arginine / blood
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Arginine / pharmacology
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Arginine / therapeutic use*
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Cerebral Arteries / drug effects
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Child
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Child, Preschool
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Cholesterol / blood
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Cyclic GMP / blood
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Female
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Headache / etiology
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Headache / prevention & control
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Humans
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MELAS Syndrome / complications
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MELAS Syndrome / drug therapy*
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Male
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Nitric Oxide / blood
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Paresis / etiology
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Paresis / prevention & control
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Seizures / etiology
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Seizures / prevention & control
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Stroke / drug therapy*
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Stroke / etiology
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Stroke / prevention & control
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Treatment Outcome
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Vasodilation / drug effects
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Vision Disorders / etiology
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Vision Disorders / prevention & control
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Vomiting / etiology
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Vomiting / prevention & control
Substances
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Amino Acids
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Nitric Oxide
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N,N-dimethylarginine
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Arginine
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Cholesterol
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Cyclic GMP