Research in Medicine

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Background: Inflammation and oxidative stress are common in patients with chronic renal disease, including hemodialysis patients. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of L-carnitine supplements on inflammatory cytokines, CRP and oxidative stress in hemodialysis patients. Materials and methods: The study was a randomized clinical trial. Thirty-six hemodialysis patients, (23 males and 13 females), were randomly assigned to either carnitine group or the control group. The patients in the carnitine group received 1000 mg/d oral L-carnitine for 12 weeks while the control group did not receive any L-carnitine supplement during the study. At the baseline and the end of 12th week of the study, 5 ml. blood was collected after a 12 to 14-hour fast from each patient before dialysis and then serum free carnitine, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and ox-LDL were measured. Results: Mean serum free carnitine concentration increased significantly, by 86%, in the carnitine group at the end of 12th week as compared to the baseline (P<0.001), while serum CRP and IL-6 decreased significantly, by 29% (P<0.05) and 61% (P<0.001), respectively. No significant changes were observed in the serum concentrations of free carnitine, CRP and IL-6 in the control group during the study. There were no significant differences between mean changes of serum IL-1β, TNF-α and ox-LDL concentrations in the two groups. Conclusion: This study indicated that L-carnitine supplement could improve carnitine deficiency and decrease inflammatory markers of CRP and IL-6 in hemodialysis patients.

Keywords: L-carnitine, Hemodialysis, Inflammation, Oxidative stress.

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