ReviewJournal of diabetes and metabolic disorders2020
The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on indicators of inflammation and oxidative stress: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Review in Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of selected dietary supplements and pharmacological agents on metabolic and oxidative stress outcomes in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD): a Bayesian network meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- L-Carnitine in the Treatment of Psychiatric and Neurological Manifestations: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on inflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Inflammopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- L-carnitine as a novel approach for pain and inflammation relief in rheumatoid arthritis.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Trial
- The effects of concurrent alpha-linolenic acid, L-carnitine supplementation on clinical symptoms, mental health, and quality of life in women with migraine: a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2025Trial
- The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on inflammation, oxidative stress, and clinical outcomes in critically Ill patients with sepsis: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2024Trial
- Effects of L-carnitine supplementation in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 disease: a pilot study.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2022Trial
- Oxidative Stress as a Pathophysiological Core of Obesity: Preclinical Evidence for Antioxidant-Based Therapy Strategies.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- A review of the potential benefits and limitations of oral glutathione supplementation.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Coix Seed Oil Ameliorates Rheumatoid Arthritis by Modulating Inflammation-Associated Metabolic Pathways.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- L-Carnitine, a new biomarker screened based on untargeted metabolomics, predict cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury: a prospective cohort study.BMC nephrology · 2026Article
- Mechanistic Insights into Antioxidant Interventions Targeting Obesity-Induced Oxidative Stress in the Pathogenesis and Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis from γ-butylbetaine and L-carnitine in plasma and urine based on untargeted and targeted metabolomics.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Neuroprotective effects of L-carnitine towards oxidative stress and inflammatory processes: a review of its importance as a therapeutic drug in some disorders.Metabolic brain disease · 2025Review
- The effect of L-carnitine supplementation on anthropometric and malnutrition status in acute ischemic stroke patients: a triple-blinded randomized clinical trial.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Effect of parenteral L-carnitine in hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19: A randomized double-blind clinical trial.BioImpacts : BI · 2025Article
- Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of COVID-19 Disease and Post COVID Syndrome: The Role of N-acetylcysteine and Acetyl-L-carnitine.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Review
- Revisiting the Role of Carnitine in Heart Disease Through the Lens of the Gut Microbiota.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Neurodegenerative biomarkers and inflammation in patients with propionic and methylmalonic acidemias: effect of L-carnitine treatment.Metabolic brain disease · 2024Article
- The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors in participants with impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveSeveral trials investigated the efficacy of L-carnitine administration on markers of inflammation and indicators of oxidative stress; however, their findings are controversial. The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis and a critical review, which would analyze all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in order to determine the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on inflammatory markers and oxidative stress.
methodsAn electronic search was performed using Scopus, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Google scholar and Web of Science databases on publications from 1990 up to May 2020. Human RCTs conducted in healthy subjects or participants with certain disorders which investigating the efficacy of L-carnitine supplementation compared to control (placebo, usual treatment or no intervention) on inflammation and oxidative markers were included. Data were pooled applying a random-effects model and as the overall effect size, weighted mean difference (WMD) was presented. Between heterogeneity among studies was computed using Cochran's Q test and I-square (I
results44 trials (reported 49 effect sizes for different outcomes of interest) met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. According to the findings, L-carnitine supplementation resulted in a significant reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) (WMD: -0.10; 95% CI: -0.14, -0.06), interleukin 6 (IL-6) (WMD: -1.87; 95% CI: -2.80, -0.95), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels (WMD: -1.43; 95% CI: -2.03, -0.84), and malondialdehyde (MDA) (WMD: -0.47; 95% CI: -0.76, -0.18) levels, while there was a significant increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) (WMD: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.02, 3.25). However, no significant effects of L-carnitine on glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (WMD: 0.02; 95% CI: -0.01, 0.05) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (WMD: 0.14; 95% CI: -0.05, 0.33) were found.
conclusionsL-carnitine supplementation was associated with lowering of CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and MDA, and increasing SOD levels, but did not affect other inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers.
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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.