Effects of combination of sibutramine and L-carnitine compared with sibutramine monotherapy on inflammatory parameters in diabetic patients

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at L-Carnitine.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of 12-month treatment with sibutramine plus L-carnitine compared with sibutramine alone on body weight, glycemic control, insulin resistance, and inflammatory state in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Why It Was Studied

The researchers evaluated at baseline and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months these parameters: body weight, body mass index, HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, vaspin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 2 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and double-blind.

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.

What Was Measured

The researchers evaluated at baseline and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months these parameters: body weight, body mass index, HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, vaspin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Appetite Depressants, Blood Glucose, C-Reactive Protein, Carnitine, Cholesterol, Cyclobutanes and Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of L-Carnitine in 2 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 2011 (Metabolism: clinical and experimental), a journal based in United States.

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