l-arginine supplementation improved neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with hypertensive disorder or intrauterine growth restriction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
hypertensive disorder, intrauterine growth restriction
l-arginine supplementation
no l-arginine supplementation
plasma nitric oxide concentrations, birth outcomes
Abstract
Previous research established that the availability of l-arginine affects placental vascular development and fetal growth. However, practical details associated with the effects of l-arginine supplementation on the neonatal outcomes of hypertensive disorder (HD) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) pregnancies are limited. The PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases were searched for peer-reviewed literature published by September 30, 2021 to investigate the operational details of l-arginine supplementation in improving neonatal outcomes in complicated pregnancies. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and weighted mean difference (WMD) of continuous variables, as well as the risk ratio (RR) for categorical variables were pooled by random-effects models. The results indicated that l-arginine supplementation increased the plasma nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in IUGR pregnancies (SMD: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.97; I These findings provide practical guidelines for l-arginine supplementation to improve the birth outcomes of complicated pregnancies. CRD42021246290 (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO).