L-Citrulline

Category: amino-acid

Aliases: Citrulline

Pharmacological Mechanism

Non-proteinogenic urea-cycle amino acid. Bypasses gut + hepatic L-arginine first-pass metabolism — converted to arginine in the kidney → raises plasma arginine more efficiently than oral L-arginine itself. Vasodilation + erectile-function support, modest effect sizes.

Half-Life (t½)

PO: 0.7h

Dosing Guidelines

• PO: Typical 6000 mg (Range: 3000–8000 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• cardiovascular
• digestive
• renal
• reproductive

Pathways It Modulates

• Urea cycle (substrate) — urea cycle intermediate → arginine

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 9750
• Formula: C6H13N3O3
• Molecular weight: 175.19 g/mol
• InChIKey: RHGKLRLOHDJJDR-BYPYZUCNSA-N
• SMILES: C(C[C@@H](C(=O)O)N)CNC(=O)N