Antiinflammatory effects of L-carnitine supplementation (1000 mg/d) in coronary artery disease patients.

May 4, 2015

Lee BJ, Lin JS, Lin YC, Lin PT.

The Intensive Care Unit, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammation mediators have been recognized as risk factors for the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of L-carnitine supplementation (LC, 1000 mg/d) on inflammation markers in patients with CAD.

METHODS: We enrolled 47 patients with CAD in the study. The patients with CAD were identified by cardiac catheterization as having <50% stenosis of one major coronary artery. The patients were randomly assigned to the placebo (n = 24) and LC (n = 23) groups and the intervention was administered for 12 wk. The levels of LC, antioxidant status (malondialdehyde and antioxidant enzymes activities), and inflammation markers (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin [IL]-6, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-a) were measured.

RESULTS: Thirty-nine participants completed the study (19 placebo; 20 LC). After LC supplementation, the levels of inflammation markers were significantly reduced compared with the baseline (CRP, P < 0.01; IL-6, P = 0.03; TNF-a, P = 0.07) and those in the placebo group (CRP, P < 0.05; IL-6, P = 0.04; TNF-a, P = 0.03). The levels of inflammation markers were significantly negatively correlated with the levels of LC and antioxidant enzymes activities (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that LC supplementation, due to its antioxidant effects, may have potential utility to reduce inflammation in CAD.

PMID: 25701337

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