Effect of L-arginine and Selenium on Metabolic Features, Insulin Resistance and Hepatic Function Tests in Obese Women

To investigate the beneficial effect of L-arginine and selenium along with hypocaloric diet on metabolic features, insulin resistance and hepatic function tests this study were conducted on women with central obesity. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was undertaken among 68 premenopausal women with central obesity. After 2 weeks of run-in period of an isocaloric diet, participants were randomly assigned into four groups of hypocaloric control diet (HCD), Larginine (5 g / d) + HCD, selenium (200 µg / d) + HCD, or L-arginine + selenium + HCD for 6 weeks. The following variables were assessed at baseline (start of intervention) and 3 and 6 weeks after intervention: Waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting serum concentrations of triglyceride (TG), High-density lipoprotein-cholestrol (HDL-C), fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin, homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartat aminotransferase (AST). When t-test was used for data analysis, HCD reduced SBP (P = 0.009) and TG (P = 0.05); HCD + L-arginine reduced WC more than HCD (P = 0.008); HCD + Selenium reduced fasting serum concentration of ALT (P = 0.007); and selenium reduced fasting serum concentrations of insulin (P = 0.05) and HOMA - IR (P = 0.04), after 6 weeks of interventions. The study showed beneficial effects of L-arginine on central obesity, selenium on insulin resistance and hepatic function and HCD on blood pressure and serum lipid profile. Keywords: Central obesity, hypocaloric diet, insulin resistance, L-arginine, metabolic syndrome, selenium.