Synergistic Effect of Linoleic Acid and L-Carnitine in HFD Diet Induced Obesity in Rats

The aim was to evaluate the combined effects of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and L-carnitine (LC) on weight gain in diet induced obesity in rats. Forty male wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: Normal chow diet (n = 8), and High fat diet (HFD) (n = 32). After eight weeks, the second group main-tained HFD and was subdivided into 4 categories: Corn Oil group, 500 mg conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), 200 mg L-carnitine (LC), and 500 mg CLA+ 200 mg LC (all doses were calculated per kg of body weight), which were administered by oral gavage for four weeks. Body weights were measured and recorded weekly by means of a digital weighing machine. SPSS Version 16 was used for statistical analysis. At the end of eighth week, a significant difference in weight was observed between HFD (295.43 +/- 2.36 gm) and NCD (206.38 +/- 3.48 gm) group. After four weeks, LC significantly reduced weight gain by 7.5% (p = 0.047). Trend of weight gain in CLA and LC + CLA groups were decelerated (24 and 25 g, respectively), but it was statistically insignificant (p = 0.08, 0.12 respectively). Findings of this experimental study showed that a high fat diet led to obesity and when LC and CLA given combined it leads to decrease in weight gain caused by HFD. However, needs further work to validate reliability in human.