Comparison of the effects of acetyl L-carnitine and amantadine for the treatment of fatigue in multiple sclerosis: results of a pilot, randomised, double-blind, crossover trial

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of L-Carnitine in the context of multiple sclerosis, published as a randomized controlled trial.

After a 3-month washout period, they crossed over to the alternative treatment for 3 months.

Patients were rated at baseline and every 3 months according to the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the primary endpoint of the study.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 36 patients taking part.

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

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, crossover and pilot study.

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

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

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both L-Carnitine and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger L-Carnitine study would be practical.

The timeline in the abstract includes 3 months.

What Was Measured

Patients were rated at baseline and every 3 months according to the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the primary endpoint of the study.

Secondary outcome variables were: Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Social Experience Checklist (SEC).

PubMed files the paper under topics including Acetylcarnitine, Amantadine, Analgesics, Non-Narcotic, Analysis of Variance, Confidence Intervals, Disability Evaluation and Fatigue.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and crossover study of L-Carnitine in 36 patients in people with multiple sclerosis over 3 months.

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 2004 (Journal of the neurological sciences), a journal based in Netherlands.

More context: the L-Carnitine compound page, Multiple sclerosis research.