Efficacy and Safety of Acetyl L-Carnitine in COVID-19 Patients With Mild-to-Moderate Disease

What Was Tested

In this not phased trial, researchers set out to test L-Carnitine.

It also contributes to the inhibition of ROS production and to the remodulation of the cytokine network typical of the systemic inflammatory syndrome.

It had two arms (groups): Acetyl L-Carnitine (experimental) and Standard of care (no intervention).

Acetyl L-Carnitine.

Standard of care.

The registry classes the interventions as dietary supplement.

More on the Plan

SARS-CoV-2 virus activates the human cell ACE2 receptor, triggering a series of deleterious events.

In COVID19, renin-angiotensin is upregulated and the pathway is overexpressed and a progressive cytokine storm is always observed.

In all these pathogenic processes, LC could play a modifier function to enhance condition.

For LC, an anti-apoptotic and genome-stabilizer role was estimated by inhibiting pro-apoptotic caspases and activating PARP-1.

Who Took Part

Enrollment: 100 planned participants were the target.

It was open to people of any sex aged from 18 years with no upper age limit.

Healthy volunteers were not accepted; participants needed the condition being studied.

Examples of who could join: Positive swab test of SARS-CoV-2. Pneumonia related to SARS-CoV-2. Signature of informed consent.

The full record lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: unsigned informed consent; negative swab test of sars-cov-2.

How the Study Was Run

Design: randomized, parallel-group and open-label.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the L-Carnitine group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The L-Carnitine group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

Being open-label, the L-Carnitine study did not mask who received what.

It started in 2020-12-15 with completion listed for 2021-04-29.

Its stated primary purpose is treatment.

What Was Measured

The main thing measured (primary outcome): In-hospital mortality (time frame: 72 hours).

It also tracked 5 secondary outcomes, for example C reactive protein (CRP) levels, IL-6 levels, D-dimer levels, Hospital stay and Duration of positive PCR swab.

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a not phased, randomized trial of L-Carnitine in 100 people.

Its status is unknown; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

More context: the L-Carnitine compound page, all human trials.