Trial reportThe Korean journal of internal medicine2022
Effect of L-carnitine on quality of life in covert hepatic encephalopathy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Trial report in The Korean journal of internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- L-Carnitine in the Treatment of Psychiatric and Neurological Manifestations: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical Outcome Assessments in Encephalitis: A Systematic ReviewNeurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2024Pooled it
- Covert hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis: implications for early diagnosis and appropriate management.Clinical journal of gastroenterology · 2026Review
- Metabolites involvement in the growth and spread of liver cancer.Liver research (Beijing, China) · 2025Review
- Effects of l-carnitine on frailty status in patients with liver cirrhosis: A randomized-controlled trial.Health science reports · 2024Article
- The social and psychological impact of hepatic encephalopathy.Metabolic brain disease · 2024Review
- Factors Affecting and Promoting Health-related Quality of Life in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis: An Underestimated Domain in Patient Care.Journal of clinical and experimental hepatologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 12 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
aimsL-carnitine is potentially beneficial in patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE). We aimed to evaluate the impact of L-carnitine on the quality of life and liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis and covert HE.
methodsWe conducted an investigator-initiated, prospective, multi-center, double- blind, randomized phase III trial in patients with covert HE. A total of 150 patients were randomized 1:1 to L-carnitine (2 g/day) or placebo for 24 weeks. Changes in quality of life and liver function were assessed at 6 months. The model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), the psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES), and the Stroop Test were evaluated in all patients.
resultsThe total SF-36 score significantly improved in the L-carnitine group after 24 weeks (difference: median, 2; interquartile range, 0 to 11; p < 0.001); however, these values were comparable between the two groups. Furthermore, there was a significant ordinal improvement in PHES scores among patients with minimal HE who were in the L-carnitine group (p = 0.007). Changes in the total carnitine level also positively correlated with improvements in the Stroop test in the L-carnitine group (color test, r = 0.3; word test, r = 0.4; inhibition test, r = 0.5; inhibition/switching test, r = 0.3; all p < 0.05). Nevertheless, the MELD scores at week 24 did not differ between the groups.
conclusionTwenty-four weeks of L-carnitine supplementation was safe but ineffective in improving quality of life and liver function.
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