title: Dialysis-related carnitine disorder.
abstract: L-carnitine plays an essential role in the beta-oxidation of fatty acids by catalyzing their transport into the mitochondrial matrix. The kidney maintains plasma free L-carnitine levels in the homeostatic range by selective saturable tubular reabsorption. The preferential retention of free L-carnitine over acyl-L-carnitines by the kidney is lost in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Loss of renal parenchyma as a site of carnitine synthesis, as well as nonselective clearance of L-carnitine by the dialysis procedure lead to dialysis-related carnitine deficiency. Numerous studies investigating whether L-carnitine supplementation will alleviate several dialysis-related symptoms, such as intradialytic hypotension, heart failure, muscle weakness, low exercise capacity, and anemia, have reported conflicting results. Many of these studies suffer from a lack of randomization and control groups, heterogeneity in the administration of L-carnitine, and nonstandardized measures of symptom improvement. More data exist to support the use of L-carnitine in selected anemic dialysis patients with very large erythropoietin requirements in whom extensive examination for reversible causes of anemia was unrevealing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, Texas 75216-7167, USA. susan.hedayati@med.va.gov
authors.forename: S Susan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hedayati
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D002331:Carnitine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D002331:Carnitine