title: Evaluation of carnitine deficit in very low birth weight preterm newborns small for their gestational age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify whether small-for-gestational-age (SGA) preterm newborns represent a special risk group for carnitine deficiency. Secondary outcome includes assessment of longitudinal differences of total carnitine (TC), free carnitine (FC) and acylcarnitines between SGA and appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study to evaluate carnitine and acylcarnitines profile on 144 very-low-birth weight newborns (VLBW), classified as AGA (n = 73) and SGA (n = 71), was performed by tandem mass spectrometry, during their first 5 weeks of life. Carnitine deficiency was defined as FC <40 µmol/L and FC/TC <0.7.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Carnitine deficiency was observed in the two study groups throughout the monitoring period (maximum FC: 36.05 µmol/L in AGA and 32.24 µmol/L in SGA). FC/TC remains under 0.7 in both with progressive improvement. Unlike expected, a comparatively higher value of TC, FC and total acylcarnitines (tAC) was found in SGA during the first 2 weeks, with significant relevance on day 3-5, especially for tAC (p < 0.001). The only acylcarnitine with persistently lower value in SGA is C5 (p < 0.05 in first 2 weeks).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A carnitine deficiency was demonstrated in all VLBW. Although birth weight restriction has been suggested as a risk factor for impaired carnitine status, in our study, SGA was not related with higher carnitine deficiency.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics , Hospital da Barbanza , Ribeira , Spain .
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Pintos
authors.affiliation: b Neonatal Unit, Department of Pediatrics , Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain .
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-Muñuzuri
authors.affiliation: c Diagnosis and Treatment Unit of Metabolic Diseases , Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Jose Ángel
authors.initials: JÁ
authors.lastname: Cocho
authors.affiliation: d Department of Pediatrics , Complexo Universitario de Vigo , Vigo , Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Ramón
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fernández-Lorenzo
authors.affiliation: b Neonatal Unit, Department of Pediatrics , Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain .|c Diagnosis and Treatment Unit of Metabolic Diseases , Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Jose María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fraga
authors.affiliation: b Neonatal Unit, Department of Pediatrics , Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain .|c Diagnosis and Treatment Unit of Metabolic Diseases , Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela , Santiago de Compostela , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Couce
mesh_terms: D002331:Carnitine / Q000172:deficiency*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age / Q000097:blood*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D002331:Carnitine
keywords: Acylcarnitines; carnitine; small for gestational age; tandem mass spectrometry; very-low-birth weight