Effect of L-carnitine on liver enzymes and biochemical factors in hepatic encephalopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol
; 34(12): 2062-2070, 2019 Dec.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31254469
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:
We aimed to investigate the effect of L-carnitine on biochemical factors including ammonia, bilirubin, albumin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine (Cr) in patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE).METHODS:
A systematic search was carried out in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases to find articles related to the effect of L-carnitine supplementation in patients with HE, up to 7 February 2019. There was no language and time limitation. Meta-analyses were carried out using both the random and fixed effects models where appropriate, and I2 index was used to evaluate the heterogeneity.RESULTS:
Search yielded 3462 publications. Nine randomized clinical trials with 779 patients were eligible. L-carnitine supplementation significantly reduced blood levels of ammonia. Furthermore, our results indicated that L-carnitine supplementation significantly reduced blood levels of bilirubin, AST, BUN, and Cr in patients with HE. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that L-carnitine significantly reduced ammonia in patients with all the ages, long and short duration of the supplementation, doses less or higher than 4000 mg/day, any route of treatment (intravenous or oral), and in patients with any grade of the symptoms of HE. Moreover, we found that L-carnitine significantly increased circulating levels of albumin in HE patients.CONCLUSIONS:
Present systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that L-carnitine supplementation significantly reduced blood levels of ammonia, bilirubin, AST, BUN, and Cr in HE patients. Moreover, we found that L-carnitine significantly increased circulating levels of albumin. However, further large-scale randomized clinical trials are needed.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Carnitina
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Encefalopatía Hepática
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Suplementos Dietéticos
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
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Prognostic_studies
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Systematic_reviews
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Gastroenterol Hepatol
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Irán