The amino acid that fights cancer and infection

Taking a couple of arginine supplements a day could help your body fight viruses—and even cancer.

The amino acid is vital for healthy immune and cellular functioning—and low levels increase the chances of cancer developing and allow viral infections to worsen.

In breakthrough research, a team from Rockefeller University’s Elizabeth and Vincent Meyer Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology has explored the role that arginine deficiency plays in cancer growth—suggesting that cancer can be combatted by eating an arginine-rich diet or taking a couple of supplements every day.

A deficiency allows cancer cells to mutate and weakens the immune system.  The researchers have witnessed how colon cancer cells start to mutate when there’s a lack of arginine; when arginine is scarce, cells struggle to produce MHC-1, a protein that helps alert the immune system to threats such as mutated cells and invading viruses.

Even modest amounts of arginine—which are found in pumpkin seeds, peanuts, spirulina and in turkey and chicken meats—kickstart MHC-1 production, the researchers discovered.

They tested the impact of arginine on various cell lines, including colon cancer and viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the recent Covid-19 pandemic.  Arginine depletion is common in all these diseases.

They also tested the role of srginine on a group of mice that had colon cancer; when they were fed a diet that was low in arginine, the mice developed more colon cancer cells.  They saw similar results when they tested the diet against influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.  The mice fed an arginine-rich diet had milder symptoms.

Arginine levels naturally decrease with age, and this could explain why older people are more vulnerable to viral infections and some cancers.

But the remedy is simple enough: start taking arginine supplements.

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