Oral Carnitine in Heart Failure Patients

What Was Tested

In this early phase 1 trial, researchers set out to test L-Carnitine.

Carnitine is a naturally occurring substance in the body that plays a role in turning fat into energy.

It had 1 arm (groups): Intervention (experimental).

The registry classes the interventions as drug.

More on the Plan

Heart failure (HF) is a multi-organ syndrome that is fundamentally driven by metabolic failure.

Abnormalities in carnitine metabolism are thought to contribute to myocardial dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation.

Who Took Part

The registry lists 20 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: Clinical-pathological diagnosis of heart failure with some degree of cardiorenal syndrome. Stage 1, 2, 3a, 3b, or 4 chronic kidney disease. Age ≥ 18 years. Able to speak and read English. Willing and able to provide consent.

The full record lists 5 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria; among the exclusions: currently undergoing renal replacement therapy of any kind; pregnant, breastfeeding or intending pregnancy; history of seizures of any type.

How the Study Was Run

It was run as a single-group and open-label study.

Nothing was hidden in this open-label L-Carnitine study: the participants and staff both knew the treatment.

Everyone received the same intervention, so there was no separate comparison group inside the trial.

It started in 2025-11-12 with completion listed for 2026-12-31.

It ran at 1 site in Canada.

Its stated primary purpose is health services research.

What Was Measured

Primary outcome: Recruitment Rate (time frame: From study start to end of study at 52 weeks). Retention Rate (time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment at 6 months). Intervention adherence (time frame: From enrollment to end of study treatment at 6 months).

It also tracked 8 secondary outcomes, for example Change in Patient Reported Outcome Measurements (PROM) using the Dynamic Patient Reported Outcome Measure (d/PROM), Change in cognitive function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)), Change in cognitive function (Creyos), Change in Patient Reported Outcome Measurements (PROM) using Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-12), Change in Cardiac Function (Echocardiogram) and Change in Functional Capacity (hand-grip strength (HGS).

What This Means in Plain Language

Put simply, this is a early phase 1 trial of L-Carnitine in 20 people.

Its size is small, so on its own it can only give an early look.

It is still recruiting; no results are posted to the registry yet, so nothing here describes outcomes.

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