Effects of L-carnitine on leukocyte function and viability in hemodialysis patients: A double-blind randomized trial

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of L-Carnitine, published as a randomized controlled trial.

A lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release test was applied to assess cell viability.

Why It Was Studied

Excess morbidity and mortality among long-term hemodialysis patients because of infectious complications is partly caused by an impairment of cellular immune defense.

The researchers hypothesized this impairment is related to an abnormal carnitine metabolism also present in these patients.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 17 patients were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got L-Carnitine and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind L-Carnitine study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the L-Carnitine group a baseline to be compared against.

Leukocyte oxidative metabolism was measured by means of luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence and superoxide generation after stimulation with Staphylococcus aureus or phorbol myristate acetate.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Carnitine, Cell Survival, Immune Tolerance, Kidney Failure, Chronic, Leukocytes, Luminescent Measurements and Phagocytosis.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of L-Carnitine in 17 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1999 (American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation), a journal based in United States.

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