(8) Arginine deficiency is also a feature of sickle cell disease.
(7) In one patient with small intestine and kidney damage an arginine deficiency led to hyperammonemia and resultant disturbed consciousness, which were corrected with supplemental arginine.
There is however, the potential for lysine to be counterproductive long term due to competition with arginine for shared transport and a proposed relative arginine deficiency.
An inhibition of OAT will lead to decreased synthesis of citrulline and arginine from both glutamine and proline in enterocytes, thereby resulting in
arginine deficiency, as in OAT-gene knockout mice (Wang et al., 1995).
They wrote: "One unusual finding comes from the laboratories of Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, where in vitro data indicate that an
arginine deficiency suppresses HSV-1 (herpes virus) replication.