l-Carnitine Supplementation in Older Women. A Pilot Study on Aging Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at L-Carnitine.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a 24-week l-carnitine supplementation on serum inflammatory markers, IGF-1, body composition and skeletal muscle strength in healthy human subjects over 65 years of age.

Why It Was Studied

Before and after the supplementation protocol, body mass and composition, as well as knee extensor and flexor muscle strength were determined.

In the blood samples, free carnitine, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein and IGF-1 were determined.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are older adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and pilot 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.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received L-Carnitine.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with L-Carnitine could be set against what happens without it.

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 65 years.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Biomarkers, Body Composition, Body Mass Index, C-Reactive Protein, Carnitine and Dietary Supplements.

The authors tagged it with the keywords cytokines, muscle strength and sarcopenia.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of L-Carnitine over 65 years.

The publication is from 2018 (Nutrients), a journal based in Switzerland.

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