Medicinal Uses of L-Lysine: Past and Future

Abstract

L-Lysine is an essential amino acid that has to be available in sufficient amounts in feed-stuffs to meet the nutritional requirements of animals and humans. This supplementation is realized by the direct addition of Lysine and, as a result, a tremendous growth in the market has taken place in the past ten years. L-Lysine is a necessary building block for all proteins in the body. L-Lysine plays a major role in calcium absorption, building muscle protein, recovering from surgery or sports injuries and the body's production of hormones, enzymes, and antibodies. This review describes the clinical significance of L-Lysine in the treatment of various pathological conditions like herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, osteoporosis, anxiety and mood disturbances, migraine etc. Clinical studies producing contradictory results on the effects of oral L-Lysine supplementation as prophylaxis or treatment of herpes simplex virus infections have been discussed in detail. This review also discusses the safety profile and scientific rational behind the alleged physiological benefits of its tremendous increase in its uses in the intervention of drug therapies like in Alzheimer's dementia, hair loss, shingles, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and aging. The benefits of using L-Lysine as a diet supplement in relation to future prospective are also covered.