Increased acylcarnitine clearance and excretion in septic rats

Carnitine has been hypothesized to be a semi-essential nutrient in the nutrition of critically ill patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of sepsis upon carnitine metabolism in the rat, using the model of cecal ligation and puncture. Three treatment groups, septic, sham, and non-operative controls, were used. The septic rats had significantly increased (p less than 0.05) excretion of acylcarnitine and over six-fold higher urinary acylcarnitine/free carnitine ratio, relative to the other two groups. The septic rats also had significantly higher liver and plasma free and total carnitine compared to the other two groups. A possible explanation for the increased urinary acylcarnitine excretion is that carnitine may be acting to remove toxic metabolites from the body. The septic model of cecal ligation and puncture was suitable for the study of carnitine metabolism during sepsis in the rat.