Serum cholesterol level, cigarette smoking, and vasomotor responses to L-arginine in narrowed epicardial coronary arteries.

We examined the impact of serum cholesterol and cigarette smoking on the coronary vasomotor effects of L-arginine in patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. The dilation of proximal and distal segments in response to low-dose L-arginine was greater in patients with a serum cholesterol level < or =200 mg/dl than in patients with a level >200 mg/dl, whereas the response was the same in smokers and nonsmokers.