ReviewNutrients2020
Acetyl-L-Carnitine in Dementia and Other Cognitive Disorders: A Critical Update.
Review in Nutrients, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis and systematic review of interventions to prevent or treat cognitive decline related to Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Pooled it
- Enhancing cognitive functions in aged dogs and cats: a systematic review of enriched diets and nutraceuticals.GeroScience · 2025Pooled it
- Acute Alpha-Glycerylphosphorylcholine Supplementation Enhances Cognitive Performance in Healthy Men.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- A lipidomic and metabolomic signature of a very low-carbohydrate high-fat diet and high-intensity interval training: an additional analysis of a randomized controlled clinical trial.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2023Trial
- Fluoxetine May Enhance VEGF, BDNF and Cognition in Patients with Vascular Cognitive Impairment No Dementia: An Open-Label Randomized Clinical Study.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2021Trial
- Acetyl L-Carnitine Nanoparticles Modulate Neuronal and Inflammatory Responses in In Vitro Cell Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Cholesterol at the Center of Alzheimer's Disease: A Unifying Hypothesis on the Pathogenic Mechanism.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Is Ergothioneine an Important Source of Plasma TrimethylamineAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Fluorinated Carnitine Derivatives as Tools to Visualise Carnitine Transport and Metabolism.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Pharmaceutical Roots to Mitochondrial Routes: Targeting Neurodegeneration.Pharmaceutical research · 2026Review
- The Effect of Acylcarnitines on Cognitive Function: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Evaluating metabolome-wide causal effects on risk for psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Emerging Biomarkers in Metabolomics: Advancements in Precision Health and Disease Diagnosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Evaluating the causal relationship of Levo-carnitine and risk of schizophrenia: a bidirectional two-sample mendelian randomization study.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Article
- Acylcarnitines are associated with lower depressive symptomatology in a mainland puerto rican cohort.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2024Article
- Acetyl-L-carnitine and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Current Evidence and Potential use.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2024Review
- Acetyl-L-carnitine ameliorates atherosclerosis in LDLRFrontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Proton Pump Inhibitors and Cognitive Health: Review on Unraveling the Dementia Connection and Co-morbid Risks.Current Alzheimer research · 2024Review
- Cerebral venous congestion alters brain metabolite profiles, impairing cognitive function.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several studies explored the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) in dementia, suggesting a role in slowing down cognitive decline. Nevertheless, in 2003 a systematic review concluded there was insufficient evidence to recommend a clinical use, although a meta-analysis in the same year showed a significant advantage for ALC for clinical scales and psychometric tests. Since then, other studies have been published; however, a critical review is still lacking. We provide an update of the studies on ALC in primary and secondary dementia, highlighting the current limitations and translational implications. Overall, the role of ALC in dementia is still under debate. The underlying mechanisms may include restoring of cell membranes and synaptic functioning, enhancing cholinergic activity, promoting mitochondrial energy metabolism, protecting against toxins, and exerting neurotrophic effects. The effects of ALC on the gut-liver-brain axis seem to identify the category of patients in which the new insights contribute most to the mechanisms of action of ALC, likely being the liver metabolism and the improvement of hepatic detoxifying mechanisms the primary targets. In this framework, our research group has dealt with this topic, focusing on the ALC-related cross-talk mechanisms. Further studies with homogeneous sample and longitudinal assessment are needed before a systematic clinical application.
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Registered trials
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.