Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25533009›Full record

Trial reportNutrients2014

Effects of levocarnitine on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in hemodialysis patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Terumi Higuchi, Masanori Abe, Toshio Yamazaki, Mari Mizuno, Erina Okawa, Hideyuki Ando, Osamu Oikawa, Kazuyoshi Okada, Fumito Kikuchi, Masayoshi Soma

Abstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nutrients, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Terumi HiguchiDepartment of Nephrology, Keiai Hospital, Tokyo 173-0036, Japan. thiguchi@keiai-hospital.jp.
Masanori AbeDivision of Nephrology, Hypertension and Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi Kami-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan. abe.masanori@nihon-u.ac.jp.
Toshio YamazakiDepartment of Nephrology, Keiai Hospital, Tokyo 173-0036, Japan. zakio@keiai-hospital.jp.
Mari MizunoDepartment of Nephrology, Keiai Hospital, Tokyo 173-0036, Japan. mari@keiai-hospital.jp.
Erina OkawaDepartment of Nephrology, Keiai Hospital, Tokyo 173-0036, Japan. erina@keiai-hospital.jp.
Hideyuki AndoDepartment of Cardiology, Keiai Hospital, Tokyo 173-0036, Japan. ando@keiai-hospital.jp.
Osamu OikawaDivision of Nephrology, Hypertension and Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi Kami-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan. oikawa.osamu@nihon-u.ac.jp.
Kazuyoshi OkadaDivision of Nephrology, Hypertension and Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi Kami-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan. kokada@med.nihon-u.ac.jp.
Fumito KikuchiDepartment of Nephrology, Meirikai Chuo General Hospital, Tokyo 114-0001, Japan. fkikuchi@ims.or.jp.
Masayoshi SomaDivision of Nephrology, Hypertension and Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi Kami-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan. souma.masayoshi@nihon-u.ac.jp.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsAtherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of mortality in patients with end-stage kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease patients often exhibit a deficiency in L-carnitine due to loss during hemodialysis (HD). We studied the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a marker of atherosclerosis, in HD patients.

methodsThis was a prospective, open-label, randomized, parallel controlled, multi-center trial testing the anti-atherosclerotic efficacy of oral L-carnitine administration (20 mg/kg/day). HD patients (n = 176, mean age, 67.2 ± 10.3 years old; mean duration of HD, 54 ± 51 months) with plasma free L-carnitine deficiency (<40 μmol/L) were randomly assigned to the oral L-carnitine group (n = 88) or control group (n = 88) and monitored during 12 months of treatment.

resultsThere were no significant differences in baseline clinical variables between the L-carnitine and control groups. L-carnitine supplementation for 12 months significantly increased total, free, and acyl carnitine levels, and reduced the acyl/free carnitine ratio. The baPWV value decreased from 2085 ± 478 cm/s at baseline to 1972 ± 440 cm/s after six months (p < 0.05) to 1933 ± 363 cm/s after 12 months (p < 0.001) of L-carnitine administration, while no significant changes in baPWV were observed in the control group. Baseline baPWV was the only factor significantly correlated with the decrease in baPWV.

conclusionsL-carnitine supplementation significantly reduced baPWV in HD patients. L-carnitine may be a novel therapeutic strategy for preventing the progression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Indexed as

Ankle Brachial IndexAdministration, OralAgedAtherosclerosisBiomarkersBlood Flow VelocityCarnitineDietary SupplementsFemaleHumansKidney Failure, ChronicMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesPulsatile FlowRenal DialysisacylcarnitineBiomarkersCarnitine

Identifiers

PMID25533009
PMCPMC4277011

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.