Lowered serum total L-carnitine levels are associated with obesity at term pregnancy

This study aims to compare the serum total l-carnitine concentrations of obese and non-obese pregnant women and to identify the role of L-carnitine in both maternal and fetal weight gain during pregnancy.

This study reviews 118 healthy women with singleton term pregnancy (≥37 weeks). The characteristics of the recruited subjects were analyzed according to their pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI).

The women with pre-pregnancy BMI < 18.5 kg/m(2) had significantly higher serum L-carnitine levels whereas the women with BMI > 29.9 kg/m(2) at term pregnancy had significantly lower serum l-carnitine levels (p = 0.001 for both). The neonates born to women with BMI > 29.9 kg/m(2) at term pregnancy had significantly longer height and wider head circumference (p = 0.001 for both). Serum total L-carnitine levels correlated significantly and negatively with pre-pregnancy body weight, pre-pregnancy BMI, pregnancy body weight, pregnancy BMI and serum triglyceride levels (r = -0.397, p = 0.001; r = -0.357, p = 0.001; r = -0.460, p = 0.001; r = -0.463, p = 0.001 and r = -0.216, p = 0.019, respectively). There was a significant and positive correlation between L-carnitine and HDL values (r = 0.243, p = 0.008).

The crucial role of L-carnitine in pregnancy metabolism suggests that nutritional supplementation of this amino acid can be offered to women who are either overweight or obese at the beginning of the pregnancy.