Wounds heal twice as fast as normal with supplementation with the amino acid arginine. This is evident from a small Australian clinical study published in the Journal of Wound Care in 2010.

Study
Australian researchers affiliated with Deakin University conducted an experiment with 18 patients with spinal cord injuries. The patients had pressure sores, and in their study, the researchers determined whether supplementing with 9 grams of arginine per day could accelerate healing.

The researchers used a supplement marketed as Arginaid. It is a product of Nestle Health Science, but Nestle did not sponsor the study.

Arginaid is a powdered supplement packaged in sachets. Users tear open the sachets, dissolve the powder in a glass of water, and drink it.

Each sachet contains 4.5 grams of arginine, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 155 milligrams of vitamin C, and 60 milligrams of vitamin E. In their study, the researchers gave the patients two sachets per day. This equates to 9 grams of arginine, 8 grams of carbohydrates, 310 milligrams of vitamin C, and 120 milligrams of vitamin E.

Almost all the subjects were well-nourished. Some were even overweight. So, if the supplement worked, it wasn't because it eliminated a calorie deficit.

The researchers compared the speed at which their subjects' wounds healed with that of a group of 17 similar patients who had not received supplements.

Results
For subjects in the control group, wound healing took an average of 21 weeks. For subjects in the supplementation group, it was 10.5 weeks. This difference was statistically significant. Arginine supplementation therefore halved the time it took for the wounds to heal.

The researchers divided their data by pressure ulcer severity. They used a classification system, which is explained in the table below. Click on it for a larger version.

Arginine accelerated the healing of all wounds, regardless of their classification. The figure above illustrates this.

Mechanism
Immune cells use arginine to clear away pathogens and abnormal cells, the Australians write. Arginine also makes blood vessels more flexible, increasing the supply of nutrients to damaged tissues.

The most important mechanism is likely that the body converts arginine into proline and hydroxyproline, two important building blocks of collagen. If the body can produce more collagen, it can close wounds more quickly.

More coming soon.