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Review
. 2021 Oct 5;22(19):10781.
doi: 10.3390/ijms221910781.

Neuroendocrine Effects of Carnitines on Reproductive Impairments

Tabatha Petrillo  1 , Christian Battipaglia  1 , Mohamed Ashraf Virmani  2 , Andrea R Genazzani  3 , Alessandro D Genazzani  1
Affiliations
Review

Neuroendocrine Effects of Carnitines on Reproductive Impairments

Tabatha Petrillo et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Carnitines are quaternary amines involved in various cellular processes such as fatty acid uptake, β-oxidation and glucose metabolism regulation. Due to their neurotrophic activities, their integrative use has been studied in several different physio-pathological conditions such as anorexia nervosa, chronic fatigue, vascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease and male infertility. Being metabolically active, carnitines have also been proposed to treat reproductive impairment such as functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) since they improve both hormonal and metabolic parameters modulating the neuroendocrine impairments of FHA. Moreover, they are capable of improving the lipid profile and the insulin sensitivity in patients with PCOS.

Keywords: FHA; PCOS; carnitines; functional hypothalamic amenorrhea; metabolism; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Role of carnitine in fatty acid uptake, β-oxidation and glucose metabolism regulation. CoA: coenzyme A.
Figure 2
Figure 2
L-carnitine’s different functions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Role of L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine on the cumulus-oocyte complex. Várnagy et al., in 2013, studied carnitine profiling of women undergoing IVF and suggested that L-carnitine metabolism is accelerated and the developmental competence of oocytes and early embryos can be optimized by giving supplemental L-carnitine [26].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Feeding and related metabolic events are able to modulate hormones and neuropeptides. Normal feeding (right) or reduced feeding (left) act specifically through the activation of tissues and organs to compensate for any metabolic excess or deficiency. Carnitine integration permits specific modulations on most of these metabolic pathways through CPT1 regulation. CPT1: Carnitine Palmitoyl-Transferase 1; AgRP: Agouti-Related Protein; NPY: NeuroPeptide Y; GABA: Gamma Amino-Butyric Acid; POMC: Pro-Opio-Melano-Cortin; MSH: Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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