title: Effects of switching from oral administration to intravenous injection of l-carnitine on lipid metabolism in hemodialysis patients.
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 (r (2) = 0.553, P = 0.022).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine , Kurume University School of Medicine , Kurume , Japan.
authors: Kei
authors: K
authors: Fukami
authors: Department of Pathophysiology and Therapeutics of Diabetic Vascular Complications , Kurume University School of Medicine , Kurume , Japan.
authors: Sho-Ichi
authors: S
authors: Yamagishi
authors: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine , Kurume University School of Medicine , Kurume , Japan.
authors: Kazuko
authors: K
authors: Sakai
authors: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine , Kurume University School of Medicine , Kurume , Japan.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Nasu
authors: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine , Kurume University School of Medicine , Kurume , Japan.
authors: Seiya
authors: S
authors: Okuda
keywords: HDL-cholesterol; free fatty acid; hemodialysis; l-carnitine