• Ata Mahmoodpoor, Ghaffar Shokouhi, Hadi Hamishehkar, Hassan Soleimanpour, Sarvin Sanaie, Jahan Porhomayon, Fatemeh Rasouli, and Nader D Nader.
• Dept. Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
• J Crit Care. 2018 Jun 1; 45: 128-132.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of l-Carnitine on neuron specific enolase (NSE) as a marker of inflammation in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).MethodsForty patients with severe TBI were randomized into 2 groups. The (LCA-) group received standard treatment with placebo while the (LCA+) group received l-Carnitine 2g/day for one week. NSE was measured on days 1, 3 and 7 after the initiation of the study. Neurocognitive and neurobehavioral disorders were recorded on the first and third months.ResultsNeurocognitive function and NSE significantly improved within one week in both groups. Patient mortality was similar in LCA+ and LCA- groups (P value: 0.76). Brain edema was present in 7 patients in LCA+ group and 13 patients in LCA-group (P value: 0.044). While there was no difference in NSE levels between the two groups. Neurological function was preserved in the LCA+ group with an exception of attention deficit, which was frequent in the LCA+ group.ConclusionWe concluded that despite improvements in neurobehavioral function and the degree of cerebral edema, 7-days of treatment with l-Carnitine failed to reduce serum NSE levels or improve mortality rate at 90days in patients with TBI.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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