• Moein Askarpour, Kurosh Djafarian, Ehsan Ghaedi, Omid Sadeghi, Ali Sheikhi, and Sakineh Shab-Bidar.
• Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
• Arch. Med. Res. 2020 Jan 1; 51 (1): 82-94.

Background And AimPossible Hepato-protective effects of L-carnitine have been reported in previous studies. Present study was conducted to systematically review the efficacy of L-carnitine supplementation on liver enzymes.MethodsThe following databases were searched up to December 2018: PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and the Cochrane library. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on liver enzymes including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) were included. Pooled effect size measured using random effect model (Dersimonian-Liard).ResultsA total of 16 studies (including 1025 participants) were included in the present meta-analysis. Pooled analysis indicated that L-carnitine supplementation significantly decreased ALT (weighted mean difference (WMD): -10.729 IU/L, 95% CI: -13.787, -7.672, p <0.001; I2 = 95.9%), AST (WMD: -7.149 IU/L, 95% CI: -9.202, -5.096, p <0.001; I2 = 93.5%) and GGT (WMD: -7.395: IU/L, 95% CI: -9.171, -5.619, p <0.001; I2 = 80.1%). Subgroup analysis revealed that effect of L-carnitine supplementation on liver enzymes was not significant in normal weight and healthy subjects. Baseline BMI and health status were the potential source of heterogeneity.ConclusionL-carnitine supplementation showed beneficial hepato-protective effects on circulating liver enzymes.Copyright © 2019 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

27 keywords...

hide…