Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 May 1;25(9):2127.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25092127.

The Nutraceutical Value of Carnitine and Its Use in Dietary Supplements

Alessandra Durazzo  1 , Massimo Lucarini  1 , Amirhossein Nazhand  2 , Selma B Souto  3 , Amélia M Silva  4   5 , Patrícia Severino  6   7   8 , Eliana B Souto  9   10 , Antonello Santini  11
Affiliations
Review

The Nutraceutical Value of Carnitine and Its Use in Dietary Supplements

Alessandra Durazzo et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Carnitine can be considered a conditionally essential nutrient for its importance in human physiology. This paper provides an updated picture of the main features of carnitine outlining its interest and possible use. Particular attention has been addressed to its beneficial properties, exploiting carnitine's properties and possible use by considering the main in vitro, in animal, and human studies. Moreover, the main aspects of carnitine-based dietary supplements have been indicated and defined with reference to their possible beneficial health properties.

Keywords: carnitine; food supplements; in animal studies; in humans studies; in vitro studies; nutraceuticals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of L-carnitine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structure of acetyl-l-carnitine and propionyl-l-carnitine.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overview of carnitine biological activities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alesci S. Carnitine: The science behind a conditionally essential nutrient. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2004;1033:1–197. - PubMed
    1. Wolf G. The discovery of a vitamin role for carnitine: The first 50 years. J. Nutr. 2006;136:2131–2134. doi: 10.1093/jn/136.8.2131. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sharma S., Black S.M. Carnitine homeostasis, mitochondrial function and cardiovascular disease. Drug Discov. Today. 2009;6:e31–e39. doi: 10.1016/j.ddmec.2009.02.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marcovina S.M., Sirtori C., Peracino A., Gheorghiade M., Borum P., Remuzzi G., Ardehali H. Translating the basic knowledge of mitochondrial functions to metabolic therapy: Role of l-carnitine. Transl. Res. 2013;161:73–84. doi: 10.1016/j.trsl.2012.10.006. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. El-Hattab A.W., Scaglia F. Disorders of carnitine biosynthesis and transport. Mol. Genet. Metab. 2015;116:107–112. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2015.09.004. - DOI - PubMed