Open Access

Alteration of the serum myostatin level following L‑carnitine treatment in patients with chronic liver disease: A pilot study

  • Authors:
    • Dan Nakano
    • Takumi Kawaguchi
    • Tsubasa Tsutusumi
    • Sakura Yamamura
    • Kota Shigeto
    • Ryuki Hashida
    • Hironori Koga
    • Takuji Torimura
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: August 4, 2020     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2020.4
  • Article Number: 4
  • Copyright: © Nakano et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Muscle atrophy is an independent prognostic factor for patients with cirrhosis. Recently, L‑carnitine treatment was reported to increase muscle mass in patients with liver cirrhosis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of L‑carnitine treatment on the serum levels of myostatin, a myokine regulating muscle mass, in patients with chronic liver disease. This was a retrospective before‑after study. Seven patients with chronic liver disease treated with L‑carnitine were enrolled in the present study [mean age, 66 years (39‑75); female/male, 6/1; mean treatment period, 248 days (86‑956)]. The serum levels of myostatin were measured by ELISA before and after L‑carnitine treatment. In a stratification analysis, patients were classified into the high or low FIB‑4 index groups according to the cut‑off value of 3.25. No significant changes in the serum levels of myostatin were observed after L‑carnitine treatment in the whole analysis. However, in the stratification analysis according to the FIB‑4 index, the serum myostatin level was significantly decreased after L‑carnitine treatment in the high FIB‑4 index group (49.7 pg/ml vs. 41.8 pg/ml; P=0.028). In addition, L‑carnitine treatment significantly increased the serum level of creatine kinase in the high FIB‑4 group (89.0 U/l vs. 128 U/l; P=0.044). On the whole, the findings of the present study demonstrated that treatment with L‑carnitine decreased the serum myostatin level in cirrhotic patients with a high FIB‑4 index. It was also demonstrated that L‑carnitine treatment increased the serum level of creatine kinase. These findings suggest that L‑carnitine may downregulate myostatin, leading to an improvement in muscle atrophy in patients with liver cirrhosis.
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September-October 2020
Volume 1 Issue 1

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Online ISSN:2634-7237

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Spandidos Publications style
Nakano D, Kawaguchi T, Tsutusumi T, Yamamura S, Shigeto K, Hashida R, Koga H and Torimura T: Alteration of the serum myostatin level following L‑carnitine treatment in patients with chronic liver disease: A pilot study. Int J Funct Nutr 1: 4, 2020
APA
Nakano, D., Kawaguchi, T., Tsutusumi, T., Yamamura, S., Shigeto, K., Hashida, R. ... Torimura, T. (2020). Alteration of the serum myostatin level following L‑carnitine treatment in patients with chronic liver disease: A pilot study. International Journal of Functional Nutrition, 1, 4. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2020.4
MLA
Nakano, D., Kawaguchi, T., Tsutusumi, T., Yamamura, S., Shigeto, K., Hashida, R., Koga, H., Torimura, T."Alteration of the serum myostatin level following L‑carnitine treatment in patients with chronic liver disease: A pilot study". International Journal of Functional Nutrition 1.1 (2020): 4.
Chicago
Nakano, D., Kawaguchi, T., Tsutusumi, T., Yamamura, S., Shigeto, K., Hashida, R., Koga, H., Torimura, T."Alteration of the serum myostatin level following L‑carnitine treatment in patients with chronic liver disease: A pilot study". International Journal of Functional Nutrition 1, no. 1 (2020): 4. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijfn.2020.4