The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on inflammation, oxidative stress, and clinical outcomes in critically Ill patients with sepsis: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial

Table 2 Inflammation and oxidative stress variables in the intervention group (L-carnitine) and control group (placebo) at baseline and end of the trial (day 7)

Variable^a		Study Timeline	L-carnitine (n = 30), mean ± SD)	Placebo (n = 30), mean ± SD	p-value²	p-value³	p-value⁴
Inflammation status	*CRP (mg/dl)*	Baseline	77.20 ± 28.23	63.50 ± 36.60	0.110	0.001	0.001
		Endpoint	54.43 ± 29.11	64.51 ± 29.20
		Mean difference ± SD	-22.77 ± 25.40	1.02 ± 21.10
		p-value¹	< 0.001	0.794
	*ESR (mm/hr)*	Baseline	72.37 ± 23.99	53.47 ± 29.43	0.008	0.151	0.151
		Endpoint	60.19 ± 25.37	54.14 ± 32.71
		Mean difference ± SD	-12.18 ± 21.16	0.67 ± 22.43
		p-value	0.004	0.871
Oxidative stress status	*TAC (nmol/ml)*	Baseline	4.23 ± 1.09	4.14 ± 0.96	0.679	0.821	0.835
		Endpoint	5.06 ± 1.40	5.04 ± 0.95
		Mean difference ± SD	0.83 ± 1.95	0.90 ± 1.37
		p-value	< 0.001	< 0.001
	*MDA (nmol/ml)*	Baseline	32.21 ± 6.19	32.10 ± 7.33	0.829	0.814	0.879
		Endpoint	32.78 ± 6.55	32.39 ± 6.13
		Mean difference ± SD	0.58 ± 4.05	0.29 ± 2.82
		p-value	0.501	0.215
	*SOD activity (U/ml)*	Baseline	18.02 ± 13.34	20.75 ± 15.59	0.402	0.071	0.050
		Endpoint	23.25 ± 11.96	19.17 ± 10.05
		Mean difference ± SD	5.23 ± 11.97	-1.58 ± 17.32
		p-value	< 0.001	< 0.001

CRP C reactive protein, ESR Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, TAC Total antioxidants capacity, SD standard deviation
¹Obtained from Paired sample t-test
²Obtained from Independent Sample t-test
³Obtained from analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in the adjusted models (adjusted for baseline value)
⁴Obtained from analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in the adjusted models (adjusted for baseline value and ESR)
^aValues are Mean ± Standard deviation

ISSN: 1475-2891