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

Keshani, Mahdi; Alikiaii, Babak; Babaei, Zahra; Askari, Gholamreza; Heidari, Zahra; Sharma, Manoj; Bagherniya, Mohammad

doi:10.1186/s12937-024-00934-4

Table 4 Monitoring laboratory variables in the intervention group (L-carnitine) and control group (placebo) at baseline and end of the trial (day 7)

From: 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

Variable^a		Study Timeline	L-carnitine (n = 30), mean ± SD)	Placebo (n = 30), mean ± SD)	p-value²	p-value³	p-value⁴
Hepatic status	*ALT (U/L)*	Baseline	36.43 ± 20.13	42.20 ± 38.49	0.953	0.430	0.303
		Endpoint	40.44 ± 32.33	38.90 ± 34.79
		Mean difference ± SD	4.01 ± 26.44	-3.30 ± 8.28
		p-value	0.789	0.284
	*AST (U/L)*	Baseline	42.20 ± 24.59	47.23 ± 38.63	0.879	0.587	0.672
		Endpoint	40.20 ± 21.98	44.50 ± 27.43
		Mean difference ± SD	-2.00 ± 27.37	-2.74 ± 21.86
		p-value	0.571	0.919
	*ALP (U/L)*	Baseline	255.77 ± 168.94	265.70 ± 174.59	0.617	0.532	0.327
		Endpoint	263.09 ± 168.86	288.82 ± 193.23
		Mean difference ± SD	7.32 ± 48.79	23.12 ± 49.96
		p-value	0.645	0.114
Biochemistry tests	*BUN (mg/dl)*	Baseline	22.37 ± 21.38	24.20 ± 18.90	0.337	0.971	0.965
		Endpoint	19.28 ± 12.00	19.57 ± 10.23
		Mean difference ± SD	-3.09 ± 15.18	-4.63 ± 12.59
		p-value	0.903	0.284
	*Cr (mg/dl)*	Baseline	1.03 ± 0.49	1.43 ± 0.82	0.038	0.218	0.470
		Endpoint	1.08 ± 0.48	1.22 ± 0.60
		Mean difference ± SD	0.05 ± 0.42	-0.21 ± 0.56
		p-value	0.292	0.062
	*Alb (g/dl)*	Baseline	2.55 ± 0.48	2.69 ± 0.65	0.368	0.036	0.027
		Endpoint	2.66 ± 0.50	2.63 ± 0.56
		Mean difference ± SD	0.11 ± 0.26	-0.06 ± 0.26
		p-value	0.025	0.343
	*BS (mg/dl)*	Baseline	140.77 ± 46.64	120.47 ± 46.77	0.064	0.615	0.526
		Endpoint	147.04 ± 73.27	119.59 ± 38.99
		Mean difference ± SD	6.27 ± 62.95	-0.88 ± 22.81
		p-value	0.976	0.743
	*Total Bilirubin (mg/dl)*	Baseline	1.06 ± 1.37	1.30 ± 1.21	0.062	0.462	0.532
		Endpoint	0.78 ± 0.25	1.02 ± 0.59
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.29 ± 1.34	-0.28 ± 1.09
		p-value	0.602	0.106
	*Direct Bilirubin (mg/dl)*	Baseline	0.32 ± 0.17	0.57 ± 0.74	0.018	0.626	0.576
		Endpoint	0.28 ± 0.12	0.41 ± 0.40
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.02 ± 0.07	-0.16 ± 0.39
		p-value	0.719	0.072
	*Na (mEq/L)*	Baseline	139.47 ± 4.30	138.20 ± 5.52	0.326	0.173	0.300
		Endpoint	139.60 ± 4.97	137.75 ± 3.54
		Mean difference ± SD	0.13 ± 5.29	-0.45 ± 5.38
		p-value	0.892	0.649
	*K (mEq/L)*	Baseline	3.91 ± 0.42	4.05 ± 0.47	0.224	0.581	0.292
		Endpoint	4.01 ± 0.38)	4.11 ± 0.61)
		Mean difference ± SD	0.10 ± 0.51	0.05 ± 0.73
		p-value	0.290	0.688
	*P (mg/dl)*	Baseline	3.04 ± 0.75	3.12 ± 1.01	0.717	0.249	0.212
		Endpoint	2.96 ± 0.67	2.86 ± 0.48
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.83 ± 0.58	-0.26 ± 0.75
		p-value	0.441	0.062
	*Mg (mg/dl)*	Baseline	1.91 ± 0.35	1.93 ± 0.41	0.839	0.914	0.911
		Endpoint	1.89 ± 0.32	1.91 ± 0.43
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.02 ± 0.30	-0.02 ± 0.50
		p-value	0.722	0.812
	*Ca (mg/dl)*	Baseline	7.27 ± 0.73	8.07 ± 0.81	0.091	0.360	0.686
		Endpoint	7.93 ± 0.74	8.06 ± 0.62
		Mean difference ± SD	0.20 ± 0.53	-0.02 ± 0.45
		p-value	0.049	0.856
CBC diff test	*RBC (10¹²/L)*	Baseline	3.49 ± 0.55	3.70 ± 0.71	0.252	0.967	0.788
		Endpoint	3.56 ± 0.65	3.65 ± 0.54
		Mean difference ± SD	0.07 ± 0.56	-0.06 ± 0.56
		p-value	0.527	0.779
	*WBC (10⁹/L)*	Baseline	9.96 ± 3.75	8.23 ± 3.06	0.059	0.290	0.154
		Endpoint	8.95 ± 3.13	8.82 ± 3.94
		Mean difference ± SD	-1.01 ± 2.54	0.59 ± 3.91
		p-value	0.059	0.366
	*Lymphocyte (%)*	Baseline	13.65 ± 8.11)	15.32 ± 9.25	0.444	0.113	0.193
		Endpoint	13.46 ± 6.54	17.74 ± 10.81
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.20 ± 7.22	2.42 ± 12.00
		p-value	0.744	0.178
	*Neutrophil (%)*	Baseline	73.13 ± 16.53	74.56 ± 11.51	0.871	0.167	0.116
		Endpoint	74.69 ± 10.97	70.80 ± 15.23
		Mean difference ± SD	1.56 ± 10.67	-3.75 ± 16.40
		p-value	0.727	0.207
	*Hb (g/dl)*	Baseline	9.74 ± 1.53	10.31 ± 1.62	0.220	0.675	0.741
		Endpoint	9.76 ± 1.48	10.20 ± 2.00
		Mean difference ± SD	0.01 ± 1.58	-0.12 ± 1.36
		p-value	0.996	0.645
	*Hct (%)*	Baseline	28.86 ± 3.86	31.38 ± 5.86	0.054	0.405	0.409
		Endpoint	29.05 ± 3.85	31.05 ± 4.55
		Mean difference ± SD	0.19 ± 4.30	-0.34 ± 4.34
		p-value	0.810	0.675
	*MCV (fL)*	Baseline	83.12 ± 6.34	83.81 ± 10.43	0.295	0.316	0.435
		Endpoint	83.20 ± 6.41	85.41 ± 3.58
		Mean difference ± SD	0.08 ± 3.56	1.60 ± 10.06
		p-value	0.891	0.852
	*MCH (pg)*	Baseline	27.69 ± 2.55	28.02 ± 2.30	0.589	0.174	0.421
		Endpoint	27.75 ± 2.45	28.44 ± 2.71
		Mean difference ± SD	0.06 ± 1.15	0.42 ± 1.09
		p-value	< 0.001	< 0.001
	*MCHC (g/dl)*	Baseline	33.11 ± 1.38	32.47 ± 1.68	0.114	0.689	0.616
		Endpoint	33.91 ± 2.24	33.91 ± 3.03
		Mean difference ± SD	0.80 ± 2.41	1.43 ± 2.99
		p-value	0.081	0.014
	*Plt (/ml)*	Baseline	241.47 ± 116.47	260.13 ± 127.15	0.556	0.004	0.042
		Endpoint	276.26 ± 110.86	220.30 ± 94.34
		Mean difference ± SD	34.80 ± 109.82	-39.83 ± 98.67
		p-value	0.093	0.035
ABG test	pH	Baseline	7.42 ± 0.08	7.39 ± 0.09	0.207	0.999	1.000
		Endpoint	7.47 ± 0.12	7.44 ± 0.10
		Mean difference ± SD	0.05 ± 0.13	0.05 ± 0.11
		p-value	< 0.001	< 0.001
	*PCO₂ (mmHg)*	Baseline	41.70 ± 8.48	48.34 ± 15.76	0.110	0.633	0.809
		Endpoint	39.42 ± 9.66	43.18 ± 13.17
		Mean difference ± SD	-2.28 ± 10.27	-5.16 ± 13.37
		p-value	0.194	0.060
	PO₂ *(mmHg)*	Baseline	110.95 ± 36.29	94.27 ± 40.09	0.096	0.779	0.558
		Endpoint	91.07 ± 29.08	84.87 ± 25.43
		Mean difference ± SD	-19.88 ± 36.18	-9.40 ± 40.08
		p-value	0.005	0.209
	*BE (mmol/L)*	Baseline	2.48 ± 6.30	3.63 ± 4.05	0.405	0.590	0.673
		Endpoint	2.27 ± 6.11	2.15 ± 5.10
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.21 ± 6.32	-1.48 ± 4.76
		p-value	0.856	0.099
	*HCO₃ (mmol/L)*	Baseline	26.39 ± 6.03	28.38 ± 4.84	0.165	0.610	0.731
		Endpoint	26.21 ± 6.81	27.77 ± 6.10
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.18 ± 7.22	-0.61 ± 6.93
		p-value	0.893	0.633
Coagulation status	*PT (s)*	Baseline	13.71 ± 4.05	13.53 ± 3.66	0.976	0.443	0.767
		Endpoint	13.39 ± 2.87	13.49 ± 2.79
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.32 ± 2.67	-0.04 ± 3.84
		p-value	0.992	0.333
	*PTT (s)*	Baseline	30.21 ± 5.08	33.29 ± 11.29	0.175	1.000	0.534
		Endpoint	32.98 ± 9.38	33.56 ± 10.53
		Mean difference ± SD	2.78 ± 9.67	0.26 ± 10.53
		p-value	< 0.001	< 0.001
	*INR*	Baseline	1.29 ± 0.21	1.35 ± 0.37	0.709	0.180	0.346
		Endpoint	1.28 ± 0.18	1.35 ± 0.28
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.01 ± 0.13	0.00 ± 0.38
		p-value	0.841	0.145
Urinary status	SG	Baseline	1018.83 ± 5.72	1020.10 ± 6.27	0.417	0.715	0.659
		Endpoint	1018.96 ± 5.20	1019.80 ± 5.30
		Mean difference ± SD	0.127 ± 5.77	-0.31 ± 7.28
		p-value	0.905	0.820
	*Urinary pH*	Baseline	6.43 ± 1.07	6.23 ± 1.19	0.498	0.804	0.767
		Endpoint	6.43 ± 1.00	6.33 ± 0.98
		Mean difference ± SD	0.000 ± 1.27	0.095 ± 1.34
		p-value	0.998	0.701
Other monitoring variables	*Temperature (°C)*	Baseline	37.77 ± 0.97	37.55 ± 0.72	0.321	0.151	0.269
		Endpoint	37.40 ± 0.48	37.45 ± 0.48
		Mean difference ± SD	-0.37 ± 0.76	-0.10 ± 0.46
		p-value	0.012	0.231
	*SBP (mmHg)*	Baseline	126.63 ± 21.87	113.17 ± 17.94	0.012	0.030	0.007
		Endpoint	117.05 ± 20.72	98.17 ± 24.21
		Mean difference ± SD	-9.58 ± 21.98	-14.99 ± 24.16
		p-value	0.024	0.002
	*DBP (mmHg)*	Baseline	85.30 ± 21.71	92.37 ± 27.76	0.277	0.393	0.027
		Endpoint	76.29 ± 7.93	75.53 ± 8.44
		Mean difference ± SD	-9.02 ± 18.33	-16.84 ± 26.65
		p-value	0.012	0.002
	*PRL (ng/ml)*	Baseline	59.37 ± 32.87	48.05 ± 20.62	0.006	0.236	0.197
		Endpoint	55.61 ± 27.06	44.95 ± 17.89
		Mean difference ± SD	-3.76 ± 31.76	-3.10 ± 21.77
		p-value	0.521	0.442

ABG arterial blood gas, Alb Albumin, ALP Alkaline phosphatase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST aspartate aminotransferase, BE Base Excess, BS Blood sugar, BUN Blood urea nitrogen, Ca Calcium, CBC diff Complete blood count with differential, Cl Chloride, Cr Creatinine, DBP Diastolic blood pressure, Hb Hemoglobin, HCO3 bicarbonate, Hct Hematocrit, INR International normalized ration, K Potassium, MCH Mean corpuscular hemoglobin, MCHC Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, MCV Mean corpuscular volume, Mg Magnesium; Na Sodium, P Phosphorus, PCO2 Partial pressure of carbon dioxide, Plt Platelets, PO2 partial pressure of oxygen, PT Prothrombin time, PTT Partial thromboplastin time, RBC Red blood cells, SBP Systolic blood pressure, SG Specific gravity, WBC White blood cells, 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

Back to article page

ISSN: 1475-2891

Contact us

General enquiries: journalsubmissions@springernature.com

Nutrition Journal

Contact us