Effect of L-carnitine on plasma soluble tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis protein in the patients with maintenance hemodialysis / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effect of L-carnitine on plasma soluble tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (sTWEAK) protein in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.Methods Forty-six cases of MHD patients were enrolled as MHD group,and 40 cases of the same period healthy subjects were enrolled as control group.The levels of plasma sTWEAK protein,high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP),interleukin (IL)-6 and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Twenty-six MHD patients with the levels of sTWEAK protein higher than control group mean value as treatment group,were treated for L-carnitine 1.0 g in 0.9％ sodium chloride solution 20 ml after hemodialysis by intravenous injection one time per week.Twenty MHD patients with the levels of sTWEAK protein lower than or equal to control group mean value as non-treatment group.The changes of sTWEAK protein,IGF-1,grip strength and protein energy waisting (PEW) were observed after 3 months treatment.Results The levels of plasma sTWEAK protein,IL-6 and hs-CRP in MHD group were higher than those in control group [(464 ± 102) ng/L vs.(346 ± 159) ng/L,(986.54 ± 123.12) ng/L vs.(407.12 ± 180.25) ng/L,(18.8 ± 2.9) mg/L vs.(1.0 ± 1.2) mg/L],there were significant differences (P＜ 0.05).Compared with non-treatment group,the levels of plasma sTWEAK protein,IL-6 and hs-CRP in treatment group after treatment of 3 months were decreased [(126 ± 92) ng/L vs.(243 ± 103) ng/L,(799.45 ± 105.34) ng/L vs.(966.04 ± 113.11) ng/L,(13.7 ± 1.9) mg/L vs.(26.8 ± 2.8) mg/L],IGF-1 was increased,grip strength was increased,PEW was improved,there were significant differences (P ＜ 0.01 or ＜ 0.05).The body mass index in treatment group was more than that in non-treatment group,but there was no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions L-carnitine can reduce the levels of plasma sTWEAK protein in MHD patients,reduce inflammatory reaction,improve the levels of IGF-1,increase strength,improve the PEW.