Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Feb 2:5:5.
doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-5-5.

Arginine, scurvy and Cartier's "tree of life"

Don J Durzan  1
Affiliations

Arginine, scurvy and Cartier's "tree of life"

Don J Durzan. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. .

Abstract

Several conifers have been considered as candidates for "Annedda", which was the source for a miraculous cure for scurvy in Jacques Cartier's critically ill crew in 1536. Vitamin C was responsible for the cure of scurvy and was obtained as an Iroquois decoction from the bark and leaves from this "tree of life", now commonly referred to as arborvitae. Based on seasonal and diurnal amino acid analyses of candidate "trees of life", high levels of arginine, proline, and guanidino compounds were also probably present in decoctions prepared in the severe winter. The semi-essential arginine, proline and all the essential amino acids, would have provided additional nutritional benefits for the rapid recovery from scurvy by vitamin C when food supply was limited. The value of arginine, especially in the recovery of the critically ill sailors, is postulated as a source of nitric oxide, and the arginine-derived guanidino compounds as controlling factors for the activities of different nitric oxide synthases. This review provides further insights into the use of the candidate "trees of life" by indigenous peoples in eastern Canada. It raises hypotheses on the nutritional and synergistic roles of arginine, its metabolites, and other biofactors complementing the role of vitamin C especially in treating Cartier's critically ill sailors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Arginine metabolism, the partial reactions of the urea cycle, the L-arginine-NO pathway, a citrulline-NO cycle, and a branch point leading to the formation of guanidino compounds with special reference to conifers in eastern Canada. Enzymes: 1. ornithine carbamoyl transferase, 2. argininosuccinate synthetase, 3. argininosuccinate lyase,4. arginase, 5. nitric oxide synthase, 6. arginine deiminase, 7. arginine decarboxylase, 8. numerous enzymes acting on arginine and responsible for the formation of guanidino compounds. Reactions 1 to 4 comprise the partial reactions of the urea cycle in plants. Not shown is the synthesis and turnover of proteins which alters the pool of available arginine and other protein amino acids. Reactions 2, 3, and 5 comprise the L-arginine-NO pathway and the citrulline-NO cycle, which are responsible for the stress-induced formation of NO from arginine and oxygen. 6. Arginine deiminase is not yet known in conifers but has been reported in other plants. Steps 7 and 8 remove arginine from the urea and citrulline-NO cycles and divert N into the naturally occurring guanidino compounds some of which are inhibitors of respiration. During the onset of winter dormancy, arginine N, the guanidino compounds and proline N accumulate in the physiological fluids. Arginine is stored in reserve proteins to provide N for amino acid, amide, and renewed protein and nucleic acid synthesis in the spring. The conversion of proline to glutamine via glutamic acid now provides transferable hydrogen atoms making proline a readily available and highly-water soluble source of energy and reducing power for the photosynthetic assimilation of carbon dioxide.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The production and diffusion of nitric oxide (NO) (white) in the cytoplasm (green) of clusters of conifer cells one hour after mechanical agitation. NO diffuses into the culture medium around cell clusters. The large dark green circle inside each cell is the nucleus. Some nuclei may contain a nucleolus (light green). The small and irregular dark areas outside the nucleus and in the cytoplasm represent the vacuoles (laser confocal photomicrograph ×400). NO was visualized with a fluorescent probe DAF-2 DA (diaminofluorescein diacetate). NO is derived from L-arginine and oxygen by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in conifers and humans. NOS activity and the production of NO in the conifer cells is blocked by Nω-monomethyl-L-arginine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Burrage HS, Ed . Early English and French Voyages, from Hakluyt 1534–1608. New York: Barnes and Noble; 1906.
    1. Rousseau J. L'Annedda et l'arbre de vie. Revue d'Histoire L'Amerique Française. 1954;VIII:171–212.
    1. Van Wart AF. The Indians of the Maritime provinces, their diseases and native cures. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1948;59:573–577. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Durant W, Durant A. The Story of Civilization. New York: Simon and Schuster; 1961. Part VI The Reformation. Part VII. The Age of Reason Begins. New York: Simon and Schuster;
    1. Spary EC. Utopia's Garden French Natural History From Old Regime to Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2000.

Publication types

MeSH terms