Nutritional effects of carnitine supplementation in hemodialysis patients

Carnitine is involved in fatty acid metabolism and it is cleared by dialysis. As it plays a role in energy utilization and because malnutrition is a frequent complication of HD treatment, we studied the effects of carnitine supplementation on several nutritional parameters in HD patients.

The main selection criterion was a body mass index (BMI; body weight/(height)2) < 22 kg/m2. Fifty-three patients were enrolled to participate in this open and randomized study. For 6 months, 28 patients received 15 mg/kg of intravenous L-carnitine at the end of each hemodialysis (HD) treatment (Group A), the remaining 25 patients were controls (Group B). The measured parameters were the post-dialysis body weight, serum albumin concentration (nephelemetry), food intake assessed by a 3-day food questionnaire, nPNA (normalized protein equivalent of nitrogen appearance), creatinine generation, and anthropometry.

Forty-five patients completed the study (Group A: 14 F/9 M, 66.7 years old; Group B: 11 F/11 M, 65.2 years old). At the beginning of the study, there were no differences between the groups for age, gender, HD duration, BMI, diabetes prevalence, plasma carnitine levels and measured nutritional parameters. 65.2% and 77.3% in each group were carnitine-deficient (plasma total carnitine level < 35 micromol/l). After 6 months of L-carnitine supplementation, none of the nutritional parameters had changed in either group, except that serum albumin concentration decreased in both groups. Dividing each group according to their respective median serum albumin concentrations, daily energy and protein intakes, creatinine generation or triceps skinfold thickness did not show any difference in the various nutritional parameters with or without carnitine supplementation.

Carnitine supplementation, despite normalization of plasma carnitine levels, has no effect on the nutritional status of HD patients.