L-carnitine Improved the Cardiac Function via the Effect on Myocardial Fatty Acid Metabolism in a Hemodialysis Patient

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 57; no. 24; pp. 3593 - 3596
• Main Authors: Kaneko, Mai, Fukasawa, Hirotaka, Ishibuchi, Kento, Niwa, Hiroki, Yasuda, Hideo, Furuya, Ryuichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 15.12.2018; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: 123I-labeled β-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP); Carnitine; Case Report; Computed tomography; fatty acid metabolism; Fatty acids; Hemodialysis; hemodialysis (HD); Internal medicine; Intravenous administration; Metabolism; Oxidation; Single photon emission computed tomography; single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT); carnitine; single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT); 123I-labeled β-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP); fatty acid metabolism; hemodialysis (HD)
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.1055-18

Patients on hemodialysis often have carnitine deficiency. We herein report a woman who experienced the dramatic improvement of cardiac dysfunction after intravenous L-carnitine administration. We also investigated the myocardial fatty acid metabolism using 123I-labeled β-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) before and after L-carnitine therapy, and the impaired metabolism was ameliorated. Taken together, these findings indicate that L-carnitine therapy improved cardiac dysfunction via the amelioration of the abnormal myocardial fatty acid metabolism, at least in part.