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One Supplement Ingredient May Help Immune System Fight Cancer, Study Finds
Newsweek • • health
Key Points:
- New research from Rockefeller University reveals that low levels of the amino acid arginine impair the production of MHC-1 proteins, which are crucial for the immune system to detect cancer cells and viruses.
- Arginine deficiency, common in cancers, viral infections, and aging, reduces the immune system's ability to identify abnormal cells, allowing diseases to progress more easily.
- Supplementing arginine in diets was shown to improve immune responses and reduce severity in flu and COVID-19 infections in mice, even when administered after infection.
- The study suggests that dietary arginine deficiency may contribute to worse outcomes in colon cancer and respiratory viral infections, highlighting potential benefits of arginine supplementation, especially in older adults.
- Further clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings and explore arginine supplementation as a therapeutic strategy for high-risk flu and cancer patients.
