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. 2019 Nov 4;11(11):2645.
doi: 10.3390/nu11112645.

Prevalence of Carnitine Deficiency and Decreased Carnitine Levels in Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis

Satoshi Shimizu  1 , Hiroyuki Takashima  2 , Ritsukou Tei  3 , Tetsuya Furukawa  4 , Makiyo Okamura  5 , Maki Kitai  6 , Chinami Nagura  7 , Takashi Maruyama  8 , Terumi Higuchi  9 , Masanori Abe  10
Affiliations

Prevalence of Carnitine Deficiency and Decreased Carnitine Levels in Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis

Satoshi Shimizu et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background: Carnitine deficiency is common in patients on dialysis. Serum free carnitine concentration is significantly lower in patients on hemodialysis (HD) than in healthy individuals. However, there are few reports on serum free carnitine concentration in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD).

Methods: We examined serum concentrations of total, free, and acylcarnitine and the acylcarnitine/free carnitine ratio in 34 PD and 34 age-, sex-, and dialysis duration-matched HD patients. We investigated the prevalence of carnitine deficiency and clinical factors associated with carnitine deficiency in the PD group.

Results: Prevalence of carnitine deficiency was 8.8% in the PD group and 17.7% in the HD group (p = 0.283). High risk of carnitine deficiency was found in 73.5% of the PD group and 76.4% of the HD group (p = 0.604). Carnitine insufficiency was found in 82.3% of the PD group and 88.2% of HD group (p = 0.733). Multivariate analysis revealed that duration of dialysis and age were independent predictors of serum free carnitine level in the PD group.

Conclusions: The prevalence of carnitine deficiency, high risk of carnitine deficiency, and carnitine insufficiency in PD patients was 8.8%, 73.5%, and 82.3%, respectively. These rates were comparable to those in patients on HD.

Keywords: carnitine; hemodialysis; peritoneal dialysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

M.A. chairs courses endowed by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Nikkiso Co., Ltd., NIPRO Corporation, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Terumo Corporation, and Toray Medical Co., Ltd. The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Histogram of carnitine concentrations in the peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) groups. (a) Serum total carnitine concentrations in 34 patients on dialysis. (b) Serum free carnitine concentrations in the PD and HD groups. (c) Serum acylcarnitine concentrations in the PD and HD groups. (d) Acylcarnitine/free carnitine ratio in the PD and HD groups. HD, hemodialysis; PD, peritoneal dialysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Distributions of carnitine deficiency and high risk of carnitine deficiency in the two groups. (b) Rate of carnitine insufficiency in the two groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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