Changes of plasma fasting carnitine ester profile in patients with ulcerative colitis

To determine the plasma carnitine ester profile in adult patients with ulcerative culitis (UC) and compared with healthy control subjects.

Using ESI triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry, the carnitine ester profile was measured in 44 patients with UC and 44 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

There was no significant difference in the fasting free carnitine level between the patients with UC and the healthy controls. The fasting propionyl- (0.331 +/- 0.019 vs 0.392 +/- 0.017 micromol/L), butyryl- (0.219 +/- 0.014 vs 0.265 +/- 0.012), and isovalerylcarnitine (0.111 +/- 0.008 vs 0.134 +/- 0.008) levels were decreased in the UC patients. By contrast, the level of octanoyl-(0.147 +/- 0.009 vs 0.114 +/- 0.008), decanoyl- (0.180 +/- 0.012 vs 0.137 +/- 0.008), myristoyl- (0.048 +/- 0.003 vs 0.039 +/- 0.003), palmitoyl- (0.128 +/- 0.006 vs 0.109 +/- 0.004), palmitoleyl- (0.042 +/- 0.003 vs 0.031 +/- 0.002) and oleylcarnitine (0.183 +/- 0.007 vs 0.163 +/- 0.007; P < 0.05 in all comparisons) were increased in the patients with UC.

Our data suggest selective involvement of the carnitine esters in UC patients, probably due to their altered metabolism.