Effect of one-week supplementation of Citrulline-Malate, L-arginine and their combination on metabolic stress and performance in male wrestlers

L-citrulline has recently reported as a more effective supplement for promoting intracellular nitric oxide (NO) production and also performance as compared to L-arginine. The aim of present research was to evaluate the effect of one-week of Citrulline-Malate, L-arginine supplementation and their combination on metabolic stress, blood pressure and exercise performance in male wrestlers.

In  this semi-experimental study, 40 male wrestlers (aged 19-25 years; weight 60-90 kg; body fat percent 12-20) in a randomized and double-blind design were divided into four equal as citrulline-malate (Cit; 4g/days), L-arginine (L-Arg; 4g/days), their combination (2g/days L-Arg + 2g/days Cit) and placebo (P) groups. Before and after supplementation period, all subjects were participated in a competition like wrestling. After the initial blood sampling, the wrestlers performed the wrestling-like competitive test, and then the secondary blood sample was taken five minutes after the test. After one week of supplementation, exercise protocols and blood sampling are performed in the same way. Plasma lactate, urea and both aerobic and anaerobic power were analyzed. Change any of the parameters (mean and standard deviation) during four stages and also between groups were determined by repeated measure analysis of variance and Bonferoni post hoc tests, at  the significance level  of .

Urea and lactate concentration after one week supplementation of Citrulline-Malate and combination of Citrulline-Malate with L-arginine were significantly increased and decreased, respectively (p < 0.05). Moreover, anaerobic power was significantly increased following the combined supplementation (p < 0.05). Also, all three types of intervention could increase aerobic capacity, resting NO levels and NO response to competition like wrestling (p < 0.05). In addition, none of the above interventions had no effect on blood pressure(p>0.05).

It seems that combination of Citrulline-Malate and L-arginine supplementation improve performance via reduce exercise-induced metabolic stress and fatigue index (lactate).