[The impact of L-carnitine administration on the serum level of myocardium injury markers in patients with acute carbon monoxide poisoning]

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at L-Carnitine.

To examine the serum level of myocardial injury markers in patients with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, the correlation between these markers and the severity of the disease, and the therapeutic effects of L-carnitine administration.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 69 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, young adults, adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

69 patients, chosen from 309 cases of acute carbon monoxide poisoning (ACOP) for abnormally high level of serum myocardial injury markers (myoglobin, Mb; MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase, CK-MB; cardiac troponin-I, cTnI) at the time of admission, were randomly divided into control group (n = 34) and observation group (n = 35).

The plasma concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO, as index for CO poisoning severity), Mb, CK-MB, and cTnI in these patients were further examined 24 hours, 72 hours and 1 week after the treatment, for difference between the two groups, and the correlation between the serum level of HbCO and the myocardial injury markers.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Because people in this L-Carnitine study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Biomarkers, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Carnitine, Creatine Kinase, Creatine Kinase, MB Form, Myocardium and Myoglobin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of L-Carnitine in 69 patients.

Results are reported in around 7 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2011 (Zhongguo wei zhong bing ji jiu yi xue = Chinese critical care medicine = Zhongguo weizhongbing jijiuyixue), a journal based in China.

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