The Role of Oral L-Carnitine Therapy in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients

To evaluate the effects of L-carnitine oral supplementation on anemia and cardiac function in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD), we studied 55 adult chronic HD patients at our center during the period from January 2006 to June 2006 and divided them into two groups; a group of 20 patients who received 1,500 mg/day oral L-carnitine and a control group of 35 patients. Both groups were on erythropoietin therapy. Echogardiographic studies were performed before and at the end of the study. The mean hemoglobin levels were comparable in the L--carnitine group and the control group at the start and after 6 months of therapy (8.63 1.77 and 9.39 2.02 gm/dL, P= 0.18; 10.49 1.65 and 10.92 2.48 gm/dL, P= 0.76, respectively). The mean weekly maintenance dose of erythropoietin was not statistically significantly different in L-carnitine group (80.16 35.61 units/kg) and the control group (91.9 38.21 units/kg, P= 0.20). In addition no significant improvement could be observed in the echogardiographic findings in the L-carnitine group after therapy. We conclude that our study revealed no significant improvement in hemoglobin, erythropoietin dose and echocardiographic findings after six months of therapy. Long-term studies including larger number of patients are required to clarify the questionable role of L-carnitine in the HD patients.