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The Correlation of the Serum Level of L-Carnitine With Disease Severity in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Publisher Pubmed



Sarraf P1 ; Bitarafan S1 ; Nafissi S2 ; Fathi D3 ; Abaj F4 ; Asl Motallebnejad Z1 ; Teimouri R1 ; Vahedi K1
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Iranian Center of Neurological Research, Neuroscience Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Department of Neurology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: Journal of Clinical Neuroscience Published:2021


Abstract

Background: The relationship between reserve of L-carnitine and severity in patients with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is not studied sufficiently. We decided to measure the serum levels of L-carnitine in patients and the relationship with ALS severity. Method: This cross-sectional study evaluated the serum levels of L-carnitine in 30 patients with ALS (total-case) divided into two groups included 15 patients in the Oral-Fed (OF) group and 15 patients in the Enteral-Fed (EF) group, compared with 15 healthy people matched in age and sex in the control group. We measured the body mass index (BMI), daily intake of L-carnitine, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale (ALSFRS), and serum L-carnitine level in all participants and compared among groups. Results: Serum L-carnitine (p < 0.001) and BMI (p = 0.03) were significantly lower in the total-case group compared to the control group. Alternatively, the serum level of L-carnitine (p = 0.001), ALSFRS (p < 0.001), BMI (p = 0.007), and dietary L-carnitine intake (p = 0.002) were significantly higher in OF group compared with EF. Higher serum L-carnitine levels were associated with a higher score of ALSFRS (β = 0.46, P = 0.01) in the total-case group. Conclusion: Our study's results showed that serum levels of L-carnitine were lower in patients with ALS in comparison to healthy people. Also, the lower serum level of L-carnitine was associated with the higher severity of the disease. © 2021