NCT00173706

Evaluation of the Effects of L-Carnitine Injection in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: Phase 4
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (planned)
• Sponsor: National Taiwan University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This is a study designed to test the hypothesis that treatment with L-carnitine will improve the quality of life and some specific symptoms and signs in patients with renal failure submitted to hemodialysis.

Detailed description

L-Carnitine is a naturally occurring compound that facilitates the transport of fatty acids into mitochondria for beta-oxidation. A lack of carnitine in hemodialysis patients is caused by insufficient carnitine synthesis and particularly by the loss through dialytic membranes, leading in some patients to carnitine depletion with a relative increase of esterified forms. Many studies have shown that L-carnitine supplementation leads to improvements in several complications seen in uremic patients, including cardiac complications, impaired exercise and functional capacities, muscle symptoms, increased symptomatic intradialytic hypotension, and erythropoietin-resistant anemia, normalizing the reduced carnitine palmitoyl transferase activity in red cells.

Conditions

• Cardiac Complications
• Signs and Symptoms
• Muscle Weakness
• Anemia
• Hypotension

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	L-Carnitine Injection

Timeline

• Start date: 2004-10-01
• First posted: 2005-09-15
• Last updated: 2006-03-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Taiwan