L-arginine: a unique amino acid for improving depressed wound immune function following hemorrhage.

Objective: To determine whether L-arginine has any salutary effects on wound immune cell function following trauma-hemorrhage.

Background: Depressed wound immune function contributes to an increased incidence of wound infections following hemorrhage. Although administration of L-arginine has been shown to restore depressed cell-mediated immune responses following hemorrhage potentially by maintaining organ blood flow, it remains unknown whether L-arginine has any salutary effects on the depressed local immune response at the wound site.