Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30094402›Full record

ArticleHepatology communications2018

L-Carnitine Suppresses Loss of Skeletal Muscle Mass in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis.

Masatsugu Ohara, Koji Ogawa, Goki Suda, Megumi Kimura, Osamu Maehara, Tomoe Shimazaki, Kazuharu Suzuki, Akihisa Nakamura, Machiko Umemura, Takaaki Izumi and 7 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Hepatology communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
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

51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review
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

17 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Masatsugu OharaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Koji OgawaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Goki SudaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Megumi KimuraDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Osamu MaeharaDepartment of Pathophysiology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan.
Tomoe ShimazakiDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Kazuharu SuzukiDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Akihisa NakamuraDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Machiko UmemuraDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Takaaki IzumiDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Naoki KawagishiDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Masato NakaiDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Takuya ShoDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Mitsuteru NatsuizakaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Kenichi MorikawaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Shunsuke OhnishiDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Naoya SakamotoDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan.
Hokkaido University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Liver cirrhosis (LC) is a major cause of secondary sarcopenia. Sarcopenia makes the prognosis worse; thus, novel therapeutic options for sarcopenia in patients with LC are urgently required as they are currently limited. In this retrospective study, 158 patients with LC were screened, and 35 of those patients who were treated with L-carnitine for more than 6 months and for whom skeletal muscle mass changes could be evaluated by computer tomography were enrolled. Of the 158 patients, 79 patients who did not receive L-carnitine supplementation served as controls. Cases and controls were propensity score matched for age, sex, presence of hepatocellular carcinoma, and branched chain amino acid administration, and changes in skeletal muscle mass and clinical data were compared. The 35 patients who received L-carnitine supplementation and 35 propensity score-matched patients who did not receive carnitine supplementation comprised the final enrollment. Compared with control patients, patients who received L-carnitine had significantly worse liver function, which is associated with rapid progress of skeletal muscle depletion. However, loss of skeletal muscle mass was significantly suppressed in patients receiving L-carnitine, and a significant effect was observed in patient subgroups stratified by age, sex, presence of hepatocellular carcinoma, and branched chain amino acid administration. The change ratios of most laboratory data, including vitamin D and insulin-like growth factor 1 levels, were similar in the two groups, but ammonia levels were significantly less in those receiving L-carnitine. However, even in patients receiving L-carnitine but not showing an ammonia decrease, loss of skeletal muscle was significantly suppressed.

Identifiers

PMID30094402
PMCPMC6078216
OpenAlexW2887077258

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.