l-arginine hydrochloride

L-Arginine hydrochloride serve as substrates and nitrogen donors for endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) to produce nitric oxide (NO). They are transported into vascular smooth muscle cells via cationic amino acid transporters, where they are metabolized into NO, polyamines, or L-proline. As effective vasodilators, they are commonly used to induce experimental acute pancreatitis models.

L-NAME hydrochloride is an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) with an IC₅₀ of 70 μM, and it can be used to induce hypertension and kidney injury models.