{"id":4760,"date":"2001-09-01T14:08:49","date_gmt":"2001-09-01T13:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moomango.co.uk\/htb\/?p=4760"},"modified":"2014-06-11T17:04:30","modified_gmt":"2014-06-11T17:04:30","slug":"carnitine-for-high-triglycerides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/4760","title":{"rendered":"Carnitine for high triglycerides"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>www.catie.ca<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Carnitine is an amino acid that is used to help move fatty substances to places inside cells where they can be burnt to release energy. The parts of a cell where this energy release takes place are called mitochondria.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Carnitine can also act as an antioxidant and appears to play a role in maintaining the health of nerves and protecting the liver and kidneys from the toxicity of drugs. Carnitine exists in several forms; the two most commonly used are L-carnitine and L-acetyl-carnitine.<\/p>\n<p>A number of studies have found that people with HIV\/AIDS may have less-than-normal levels of carnitine. Signs\/symptoms of carnitine deficiency include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Higher-than-normal levels of triglycerides.<\/li>\n<li>Weak and\/or tired muscles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As some patients can develop high triglyceride (TG) levels in their blood \u2014 whether or not they are taking anti-HIV drugs \u2014 research teams in Montreal and Rome have found that supplements of this nutrient may be helpful for patients. The Montreal team recently conducted a small study to observe the effect of carnitine supplements on high TG levels in people with HIV.<\/p>\n<h2>Study details<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers enrolled 16 adult subjects who had the following profile at the start of the study:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 female, 15 male.<\/li>\n<li>Average age: 43 years.<\/li>\n<li>All but one were using protease inhibitors.<\/li>\n<li>Average viral load: 2,500 copies.<\/li>\n<li>Average CD4+ count: 218 cells.<\/li>\n<li>Average TG level: 5.67 mmol\/L (normal range 0.5 to 2).<\/li>\n<li>Average cholesterol: 5.6 mmol\/L (normal range 2 to 5.2).<\/li>\n<li>Average glucose: 5.3 mmol\/L (normal range 3.6 to 6.1).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Subjects received 3 grams of L-carnitine daily for an average of nine months.<\/p>\n<h2>Results<\/h2>\n<p>One month after entering the study TG levels had decreased by an average of 39% \u2014 a significant decrease from their pre-study levels. This decrease was maintained throughout the study.<\/p>\n<p>According to the researchers, \u201cnear-normal TG levels (3 mmol\/Litre or lower)\u201d were seen in 54% of subjects after two months of L-carnitine use, and in 69% of subjects after their last lab test. There were no significant changes in cholesterol or glucose levels during the study.<\/p>\n<p>No serious side effects from L-carnitine were reported and, at a dose of 3 grams\/day, L-carnitine appears to be relatively safe. The results of this pilot study will be used to plan a larger more complex trial. Carnitine is sold in North America as the prescription drug Carnitor. L-carnitine and L-acetyl-carnitine are also available from some health food stores, particularly in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>This document was provided by CATIE \u2014 Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. For more information visit CATIE\u2019s Information Network at<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.catie.ca\/\">http:\/\/www.catie.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Loignon M. and Toma E. L-carnitine for the treatment of highly active antiretroviral therapy-related hypertriglyceridemia in HIV-infected adults. AIDS 2001;15(9):1194-1195<\/li>\n<li>Famularo G. and De Simone C. Carnitine stands on its own in HIV infection treatment. Archives of Internal Medicine 1999;159:1143-1144.<\/li>\n<li>Famularo G. Alternative strategies other than growth hormone for the treatment of immune diseases. Trends in Immunology 2001;22(1):14-15.<\/li>\n<li>Bohan T.P., Helton E., McDonald I., et al. Effect of L-carnitine treatment for valproate-induced hepatotoxicity. Neurology 2001;56:1405-1409.<\/li>\n<li>Myers C.D. Carnitine; updated 1998. Available at:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catie.ca\/myers.nsf\"><br \/>\nhttp:\/\/www.catie.ca\/myers.nsf<\/a>. Last accessed on 27 July, 2001.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>www.catie.ca Carnitine is an amino acid that is used to help move fatty substances to places inside cells where they can be burnt to release energy. The parts of a cell where this energy release takes place are called mitochondria. &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-side-effects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}