Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
L-carnitine plays a fundamental biological role in the metabolism of lipids and may positively affect blood pressure by decreasing insulin resistance, although the latter remains less clear. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
Does L-carnitine supplementation reduce blood pressure?
Study design:
This review article included 10 RCTs using a random-effects model to estimate the pooled effect sizes of L-carnitine supplementation on systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP).
Results were expressed as weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
No evidence of publication bias was observed about the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on systolic blood pressure [p = 0.307] and diastolic blood pressure [p = 0.729], as evidenced by the results of the Egger's test.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found L-carnitine supplementation decreased diastolic blood pressure [WMD = -1.162 mmHg, 95% CI = -2.020 to -0.303, p = 0.008] without changing systolic blood pressure levels [WMD = -0.085 mmHg, 95% CI = -1.455 to 1.285, p = 0.903].
The investigators found results of subgroup analyses revealed L-carnitine supplementation decreased diastolic blood pressure levels in participants with overweight and obesity [WMD = -1.232 mmHg, 95% CI = -2.297 to -0.167, p = 0.023] and with doses of 2 g/d [WMD = -1.639 mmHg, 95% CI = -3.038 to -0.240, p = 0.022].
The investigators concluded that 2 g/d L-carnitine supplementation decreases diastolic blood pressure in participants with overweight and obesity. However, more research is required to determine the molecular mechanism underlying the relationship between of L-carnitine on blood pressure.
Original title:
Effects of L-carnitine supplementation on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by Askarpour M, Hadi A, […], Ghaedi E.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31481697
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on L-carnitine and cardiovascular diseases right here.