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Nutrient Physiology, Metabolism, and Nutrient-Nutrient Interactions

Dietary Supplementation with Watermelon Pomace Juice Enhances Arginine Availability and Ameliorates the Metabolic Syndrome in Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats^1,2

³ Faculty of Nutrition and Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; ⁴ Cardiovascular Research Institute and Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX 77843; ⁵ USDA-Agricultural Research Service, South Central Agricultural Research Laboratories, Lane, OK 74555; ⁶ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824; and ⁷ Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: g-wu{at}tamu.edu.

Watermelon is rich in L-citrulline, an effective precursor of L-arginine. This study was conducted to determine whether dietary supplementation with watermelon pomace juice could ameliorate the metabolic syndrome in the Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rat, an animal model of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Nine-week-old ZDF rats were assigned randomly to receive drinking water containing 0% (control) or 0.2% L-arginine (as 0.24% L-arginine-HCl), 63% watermelon pomace juice, 0.01% lycopene, or 0.05% citrus pectin (n = 6 per treatment). At the end of the 4-wk supplementation period, blood samples, aortic rings, and hearts were obtained for biochemical and physiological analyses. Feed or energy intakes did not differ among the 5 groups of rats. However, dietary supplementation with watermelon pomace juice or L-arginine increased serum concentrations of arginine; reduced fat accretion; lowered serum concentrations of glucose, free fatty acids, homocysteine, and dimethylarginines; enhanced GTP cyclohydrolase-I activity and tetrahydrobiopterin concentrations in the heart; and improved acetylcholine-induced vascular relaxation. Compared with the control, dietary supplementation with lycopene or citrus pectin did not affect any measured parameter. These results provide the first evidence to our knowledge for a beneficial effect of watermelon pomace juice as a functional food for increasing arginine availability, reducing serum concentrations of cardiovascular risk factors, improving glycemic control, and ameliorating vascular dysfunction in obese animals with type-II diabetes.