Effect of L-carnitine on Serum Total Level of Homocysteine in Patients Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effect of L-carnitine on serum total level of homocysteine (tHcy) in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. METHODS: 60 patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis were randomly divided into two groups (treatment group and control group) the patients in the treatment group were injected i.v. with 1.0 g of L-carnitine for 12 weeks,and those in the control group were injected i.v. with 5 mL normal saline for 12 weeks. Meanwhile,the healthy people were involved as normal control group(n=20). tHcy was detected by ELISA method;the fasting insulin was detected by radio-immunity method. Fasting blood glucose,total cholesterol,triglyeride,HDL and LDL were detected by routine method. The reciprocal of the multiplication product between fasting blood glucose and insulin concentration were computed as insulin sensitivity index(ISI). RESULTS: After treatment for 12 weeks,the treatment group showed increased ISI but significantly reduced tHcy(P