Fukami K, Yamagishi SI, Sakai K, Nasu M, Okuda S. Effects of switching from oral administration to intravenous injection of l-carnitine on lipid metabolism in hemodialysis patients.
Clin Kidney J 2014;
7:470-4. [PMID:
25878778 PMCID:
PMC4379340 DOI:
10.1093/ckj/sfu082]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2014] [Accepted: 07/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Carnitine deficiency may contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with hemodialysis (HD). Dyslipidemia plays a role in CVD and its prevalence is also high in HD patients. We examined here the effects of switching from oral administration (PO) to intravenous (IV) injection of l-carnitine on lipid metabolism in patients with HD.
Methods
Nine HD patients who had received l-carnitine orally (900 mg/day) for 1 year were enrolled in this study. We examined whether lipid parameters were improved by switching to IV injection therapy of 1000 mg l-carnitine.
Results
IV injection of l-carnitine for 1 week significantly increased total, free and acyl carnitine levels both before and after HD. Switching to IV injection therapy for 1 and 4 weeks decreased serum free fatty acid (FFA) (322 ± 104 versus 261 ± 124 µmol/L) and increased high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels (1.46 ± 0.49 versus 1.63 ± 0.62 mmol/L), respectively. Change in FFA values from the baseline (ΔFFA) was positively correlated with the Δacyl/free carnitine ratio (r2 = 0.553, P = 0.022).
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that switching to IV l-carnitine therapy from oral supplementation improved lipid profiles, thus supporting the clinical utility of IV administration of l-carnitine for the treatment of patients on HD.
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