Improvement of myocardial function in diabetic rats after treatment with L-carnitine. Metabolism 1984 Apr;33(4):358-63
Date
04/01/1984Pubmed ID
6708820DOI
10.1016/0026-0495(84)90199-9Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0021282211 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 69 CitationsAbstract
The effects of L-carnitine administration on the severity of diabetes were investigated. Serum glucose, free fatty acids (FFA), triglycerides, and ketones from diabetic and normal rats injected for 2 weeks with 3 g/kg/d of either L-carnitine or saline were assayed. Hearts were analyzed for carnitine and long-chain acyl coenzyme A. L-carnitine treatment to diabetic rats significantly reduced serum glucose, FFA, triglycerides, and ketones. In nondiabetic rats, carnitine increased serum ketones while FFA and triglycerides were decreased. L-carnitine treatment to diabetic rats prevented a decrease in myocardial total carnitine content. Long-chain acyl carnitine increased while long-chain acyl coenzyme A decreased. In another experiment, L-carnitine administration (750 mg/kg/d for 14 days) significantly improved the recovery of cardiac output after 60, 90, and 120 minutes of ischemia in diabetic perfused hearts. These results suggest that L-carnitine therapy may reduce the severity of diabetes mellitus and improve myocardial performance.
Author List
Paulson DJ, Schmidt MJ, Traxler JS, Ramacci MT, Shug ALAuthor
John Traxler MD Assistant Professor in the Rader School of Business department at Milwaukee School of EngineeringMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsBlood Glucose
Carnitine
Coenzyme A
Coronary Disease
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental
Fatty Acids, Nonesterified
Heart
Ketones
Male
Myocardium
Perfusion
Rats
Rats, Inbred Strains
Triglycerides