title: Effects of L-carnitine supplementation on cardiac morbidity in hemodialyzed patients.
abstract: Cardiac diseases are well known among patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD), and carnitine deficiency may be an important factor in cardiac morbidity. We studied the effects of low-dose L-carnitine treatment (500 mg/day) on chest symptoms (dyspnea on exertion, chest pain, palpitation), cardiac function, and left ventricular (LV) mass in 9 HD patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF). After 6 months of L-carnitine treatment, most patients had at least some improvement in chest symptoms, while LVEF was increased and LV mass was decreased. Carnitine fractions increased and reached plateaus at 2-3 times the baseline levels. These results suggest that prolonged low-dose L-carnitine treatment can improve the cardiac morbidity by restoring decreased carnitine tissue levels and impaired oxidation of FFA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hemodialysis, Chukyo Hospital, Nagoya, Japan. matsukun@bf6.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tadokoro
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Osumi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amano
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002331:Carnitine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000187:drug effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002331:Carnitine