Carnitine (LCT)

Acetyl L-Carnitine

• Acetyl L – carnitine (ALCAR) protects mitochondria in the cells .
• When mitochondria are damaged, dangerous oxygen types leak out into the cells and destroy them. ALCAR helps repair the BBB by reversing the mitochondria decay caused by the oxidative damage .

Carnitine

• An amino acid made in the liver from two other amino acid building blocks. It is not one of the 20 used in protein synthesis but helps transport fat into the mitochondria within cells, where fat is burned for energy. Turns body fat into energy, is found in nearly all cells of the body.
• Its name is derived from the Latin carnus or flesh, as the compound was isolated from meat.
• Carnitine is the generic term for a number of compounds that include L-carnitine, acetyl-L-carnitine, and propionyl-L-carnitine.
• Transports the toxic compounds generated out of this cellular organelle to prevent their accumulation.
• Is concentrated in tissues like the skeletal and cardiac muscle that utilize fatty acids as a dietary fuel.
• The body makes sufficient carnitine to meet the needs of most people. For genetic or medical reasons, some individuals (such as preterm infants), cannot make enough, so for them, carnitine is a conditionally essential nutrient.
• Rids toxic compounds from the mitochondria to prevent build up.

Benefits

• Has been found to lower serum cholesterol and triglycerides, build muscle tissue, weight loss and increase stamina.
• Dietary carnitine aids in breaking down of fats into energy, reduce the amount of lactic acid produced during exercise, speeds up recovery from exercise stress, prevents cell damage, and prevents cell death which may aid in weight loss.
• Overweight women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome can benefit from carnitine supplementation as it can help reduce weight, body mass index, and waist and hip size (circumference).
• Fibromyalgia patients taking acetyl-L-carnitine can improve depressive symptoms and reduce muscle pain.
• Patients with Alzheimer’s could potentially benefit from acetyl-L-carnitine treatment by slowing progression.
• When consuming carnitine, acetylcholine is produced. This neurotransmitter usually declines as memory loss advances. In this case, carnitine increases energy production and gives energy to starved brain cells which slow down memory loss.
• Chronic kidney disease: carnitine can significantly improve cognitive function.
• Encephalopathy caused by cirrhosis: Taking carnitine can lower ammonia and improve brain function.

Elderly:

• In older people, carnitine improves body composition.
• L-carnitine can reduce muscle pain and improve cognitive function in the elderly.
• Acetyl-L-carnitine has an antidepressant effect in elderly patients with age-associated depression.

Fatigue:

• Low carnitine levels can contribute to fatigue. Supplementing with carnitine can help improve mood and quality of sleep while diminishing fatigue.
• Cancer patients receiving 250 milligrams of carnitine 3 times a day could see improved fatigue and quality of life.
• Kidney disease can cause anemia, preventing blood cells from carrying enough oxygen to the body’s tissues and fatigue. Carnitine supplements can reduce red blood cell deformity and increase overall red blood cell count in 3 months.
• Hemodialysis patients found that carnitine injections helped sustain higher levels of oxygen use (improved endurance), such as during exercise, and also reduced overall fatigue.

Insulin Resistance:

• Increased levels of fat in lean tissue can be a sign of insulin resistance. Carnitine may improve insulin sensitivity by decreasing fat levels in lean tissue and muscle and relieve nerve pain.

Interactions:

• Anti anginal
• Anti coronary
• Anti ischemic
• Hypocholesterolemic

Male Infertility and Sexual Function:

• The amount of carnitine in semen is directly related to sperm count and mobility. Taking carnitine can help with male infertility.
• Carnitine can provide more energy for sperm cells and can reduce cell death in the testes.
• Intake of carnitine can increase motility in sperm cells. 250 mg carnitine four times a day can result in increased sperm count, mobility, and concentration with an effectiveness level similar to that of varicocelectomy surgery (A Varicocele is a network of tangled blood vessels (varicose veins in the scrotum).
• Free radicals can build up by infection, long sexual abstinence, harmful environmental factors, and varicocele. Causing free radical damage to cell structures and genetic material, and accelerates cell death. Carnitine can neutralize effect on free radicals.
• Dialysis patients can supplement with carnitine to increase testosterone levels and sexual function.

Sleep:

• Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with heart damage and altered heart carnitine metabolism. Although carnitine levels are low in heart tissue in those with chronic heart failure, carnitine levels of the blood are increased because of leakage from damaged heart cells and altered carnitine metabolism.
• Carnitine can help those with obstructive sleep apnea by improving airway breathing and improve overall sleep quality for patients.
• L-carnitine treatment can improve symptoms of sleep disorders in elderly.

Alertness in Narcolepsy:

• Acylcarnitine levels are abnormally low in narcolepsy patients, but L-carnitine supplements have been found to reduce the number of time patients spent dozing off during the day.

Heart Disease:

• Carnitine aids in protecting heart function and benefits in conditions where a weak heart fails to pump enough blood, glucose, and oxygen to the body’s tissues. Without enough blood and oxygen to meet the body’s needs, heart attack, stroke, and death can occur. Carnitine can increase glucose metabolism, blood flow, and correct abnormal heart rhythms, and reduce toxicity.
• Taurine and L-carnitine: Together to can stop the multiplication (proliferation) and hardening of muscle cells, preventing hardening of blood vessels and stopping plaque from accumulating, thus preventing heart disease or atherosclerosis.

HIV Progression to AIDS:

• HIV patients develop muscle, fat, and nerve degeneration and could benefit from carnitine to prevent cell death. L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine can increase CD4 counts, reduced cell death, prevent heart tissue damage, and reduce the number of triglycerides (fat) in the blood. L-carnitine can prevent white blood cell death, helping fight HIV infection. An increase of CD4 and CD8 T-cells can help fight the HIV retrovirus.

Kidney:

• Carnitine can improve kidney function by lowering levels of creatinine and BUN in the blood, reduced kidney tissue damage, and abnormal kidney enlargement.

Bone Strength:

• Osteoporosis: L-carnitine and isovaleryl-L-carnitine may stimulate bone formation, improving bone turnover, bone density, bone size, and bone structure. L-carnitine may prevent bone mineral content and bone mineral density in females for postmenopausal bone loss.

Seizures:

• L-carnitine could help suppress seizures.

Liver:

• Valproate and other anticonvulsant drugs reduce the body’s carnitine levels, resulting in liver damage. Taking L-carnitine supplementation may prevent or reduce the severity of liver damage.

Hyperthyroidism:

• Hyperthyroidism can occur when thyroid hormone is overproduced. L-carnitine can reverse and prevent symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
• Hyperthyroidism induced by L-thyroxine injections showed that L-carnitine has a dose-dependent protective effect against liver damage.

Overactive Thyroid:

• L-carnitine inhibits both triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) entry into the cell nuclei. This is relevant because thyroid hormone action is mainly mediated by specific nuclear receptors. 2 and 4 grams per day of L-carnitine can aid in reversing hyperthyroid symptoms.

ALS:

• L-carnitine can suppress the onset of neuromuscular degeneration and increases the lifespan of those with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Risks Involved with Carnitine:

• Taking 3 grams per day can cause vomiting, diarrhea, a fishy body odor, abdominal cramps, and nausea.
• Rare side effects are seizures and muscle weakness for those who are prone to heart disease.
• Carnitine is metabolized into TMAO, which changes cholesterol metabolism and may promote plaque build-up in the arteries leading to the degeneration of artery walls, restricted blood circulation, and blood clots. These conditions would make it harder for the heart to pump blood and supply bodily tissues with enough oxygen and nutrients and may cause stress to the heart, possibly leading to heart disease.
• Long-term use of L-carnitine accelerates the production of reactive oxygen species in the liver and blood.
• L-carnitine may disturb kidney function through ion transporters.

Forms:

• All forms of carnitine play a vital role in the production of energy.
• It is a generic name for a variety of compounds such as:
  • L-carnitine
  • Acetyl-L-carnitine
  • Propionyl-L-carnitine
• Although chemically similar with overlapping benefits, L-carnitine, acetyl-L-carnitine, and propionyl-L-carnitine are three different supplements with different mechanisms of action and different general uses.

L-carnitine

• Increases exercise capacity in people with some kinds of artery disease and improve muscle function and exercise capacity in people with kidney disease.

Acetyl-l-carnitine

• Closely related amino acid has been found to slow memory loss, improve brain functioning and cognition.

d-carnitine-

• is synthetic and does not have any beneficial effect on the body.

Propionyl-L-Carnitine:

• Is used to increase blood circulation.

Deficiency-

• May cause muscle weakness, confusion, or angina. Can also lead to an increase of fats in your bloodstream (triglycerides).
• Those with genetic disorders, disease, vegetarians, underweight, and premature infants need to supplement carnitine in their diet.

Testing-

• Blood or urine test

Lysine-

• If you are low in Lysine, you might end up deficient in carnitine and also may lead to calcium loss, which could increase your risk of developing osteoporosis.

Diet:

• Carnitine is primarily found in meat and dairy products. Vegans are often at risk for a carnitine deficiency. Vegetarians tend to have lower muscle carnitine levels with a reduced capacity to transport carnitine into their muscles.

Carnitine Interacts with Diseases:

• Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental 64.98
• Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 45.81
• Reperfusion Injury 43.13
• Alcoholic liver cirrhosis 42.21
• Brain Ischemia 41.0
• Lung Neoplasms 35.92
• Sepsis 31.82
• Myocardial infarction 30.04
• Hypertension 29.66
• Burns 29.29
• Pulmonary Fibrosis 25.63
• Oral Submucous Fibrosis 25.35
• Inflammation 25.21
• Rheumatoid arthritis 25.05
• Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental 24.28
• Neoplasm Invasiveness 23.46
• Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal 23.32
• Fatty Liver 23.22
• Calcinosis 23.21
• Arthritis, Experimental 22.81
• Kidney Failure, Chronic 22.35
• Prostatic Neoplasms 21.69
• Obesity 21.02
• Ulcerative colitis 20.17
• Breast carcinoma 19.94
• Radiation Injuries, Experimental 19.35
• Colitis 19.14
• Diabetic Neuropathies 18.99
• Head and Neck Neoplasms 18.5
• Pleurisy 18.34
• Asthma 18.18
• Trigeminal Neuralgia 17.81
• Aortic Valve Insufficiency 17.34
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 17.29
• Myocardial Reperfusion Injury 17.27
• Adenocarcinoma 17.22
• Cardiomyopathies 16.96
• Hepatocellular carcinoma 16.96
• Stomach Ulcer 16.81
• Heat Stroke 16.62
• Alzheimer's Disease 16.54
• HIV Wasting Syndrome 16.13
• Visceral leishmaniasis 16.08
• Brain Injuries 16.06
• Hepatolenticular Degeneration 16.01
• Squamous cell carcinoma 15.95
• Entamoebiasis 15.83
• Disease Models, Animal 15.79
• Neoplasm Metastasis 15.7
• Hepatitis, Chronic 15.47
• Heart Valve Diseases 15.07
• Hernia, Diaphragmatic 14.9
• Psoriasis 14.85
• Heart failure 14.77
• Marfan Syndrome 14.71
• Stomach Neoplasms 14.68
• Berylliosis 14.65
• Inflammatory bowel disease 14.46
• Cell Transformation, Neoplastic 14.41
• Retinal Detachment 14.14
• Abortion, Spontaneous 14.07
• Crohn's disease 13.94
• Pulmonary Emphysema 13.89
• Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 13.78
• Colonic neoplasm 13.63
• Infertility, Female 13.55
• Hyperalgesia 13.5
• Stroke 13.4
• Autism 13.35
• Mitochondrial Myopathies 13.06
• Shock, Hemorrhagic 12.99
• Necrosis 12.84
• Acute kidney injury 12.77
• Hypertension, Essential 12.74
• Insulin resistance 12.45
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease 12.33
• Atopic eczema 12.21
• Abdominal obesity metabolic syndrome 12.14
• Fibrosis 12.13
• Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous 12.12
• Leishmaniasis 12.11
• Manganese Poisoning 12.08
• Polymyositis 11.98
• Liver Cirrhosis 11.94
• Cardiac hypertrophy 11.78
• Hepatitis, Autoimmune 11.75
• Multiple Organ Failure 11.73
• Muscular Diseases 11.54
• Glomerulonephritis 11.38
• Osteoporosis 11.32
• Intracerebral hemorrhage 11.28
• Carcinoma 11.15
• Anthracosis 10.92
• Wounds and Injuries 10.77
• Edema 10.6
• Premature Birth 10.47
• Lung Diseases 10.28
• Hyperinsulinism 10.26

Gene Interactions:

• SLC22A5 Increases uptake
• TNF Increases expression, Increases reaction
• COL2A1 Affects abundance, Affects cotreatment
• CAT Decreases activity, Decreases reaction
• CPT1A Affects co treatment, Increases expression
• MPO Increases activity, Increases reaction
• HRK Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• CASP3 Decreases reaction, Increases cleavage
• PPARA Increases activity
• CPT2 Increases abundance, Increases activity, Increases reaction
• PTGIS Increases expression
• NOS2 Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• MTTP Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• CASP9 Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• MAPK1 Decreases phosphorylation, Decreases reaction
• IL10 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• CTGF Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• MMP9 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• COL1A1 Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• TGFB1 Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• GPX1 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• SREBF1 Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• COX1 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• FABP3 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• MAPK3 Decreases phosphorylation, Decreases reaction
• IL6 Decreases reaction, Increases expression
• BCL2 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• BCL2L1 Decreases expression, Decreases reaction
• LEPR Affects abundance
• SLC22A8 Increases transport
• NOS3 Increases expression
• SLC22A4 Increases uptake

CPT1A (Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1A):

• Is a Protein-Coding gene. Gene Ontology (GO) annotations related to this gene include identical protein binding and carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase activity.
• Diseases associated with CPT1A include Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase I Deficiency and Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase Ii Deficiency, Infantile.
• Among its related pathways is Circadian rhythm related genes and Metabolism.
• Catalyzes the transfer of the acyl group of long-chain fatty acid-CoA conjugates onto carnitine, an essential step for the mitochondrial uptake of long-chain fatty acids and their subsequent beta-oxidation in the mitochondrion. Plays an important role in triglyceride metabolism.The mitochondrial oxidation of long-chain fatty acids is initiated by the sequential action of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (which is located in the outer membrane and is detergent-labile) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (which is located in the inner membrane and is detergent-stable), together with a carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase.
• CPT I is the key enzyme in the carnitine-dependent transport across the mitochondrial inner membrane and its deficiency results in a decreased rate of fatty acid beta-oxidation.
• Alternatively, spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.