Effect of L-carnitine supplementation on muscle cramps in liver cirrhosis: results from a retrospective cohort study.

IF 2.5 3区 医学 Q2 GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY
Gholam Reza Sivandzadeh, Ali Shahsavari, Elahe Meftah, Ramin Niknam, Ali Reza Safarpour
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Muscle cramps are among the common debilitating complications of liver cirrhosis. Since this complication lacks effective treatments, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of L-carnitine supplementation in reducing the frequency, duration, and severity of muscle cramps in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Methods: The present retrospective cohort was conducted on adult patients referred between November 2022 and December 2023 to a tertiary referral hospital in Shiraz, Iran. Patients with confirmed liver cirrhosis who had muscle cramps ≥ 4 times per month without other secondary etiologies for muscle cramps were evaluated for inclusion. They were included if they had taken an oral L-carnitine supplement of 1000 mg/day for one month and had available medical records of the assessment of their cramps before and one month after starting the supplement.

Results: From the 702 patients screened, 195 (27.8%) had muscle cramps, and 91 (13.0%) met the inclusion criteria. The respective median age and cirrhosis duration (interquartile range (IQR)) of the included patients were 61.0 (16.0) and 2.0 (3.0) years, and 48 (53%) were male. Median daily, weekly, and monthly cramp frequency and severity were higher in females (P-values < 0.05). We noted reduced daily, weekly, and monthly frequency of the cramps, their severity, and their mean duration following L-carnitine supplementation (respective median (IQR) of absolute percentage change: 100 (100.0), 60 (88.33), 50 (75.0), 50 (77.5), and 40.0 (44.58); P-values < 0.001). Additionally, daily, weekly, and monthly cramps completely resolved in 29 (31.9%), 21 (23.1%), and 13 (14.3%) after supplementation. BMI correlated with the percentage change of all the mentioned cramp indices (P-values < 0.05), and age correlated with the percentage change in the monthly frequency of cramps (P-value = 0.042). Changes in cramp indices did not differ significantly between males and females.

Conclusions: L-carnitine supplementation seems to be a promising therapeutic option for cramps in liver cirrhosis. Further studies with control groups and larger samples are required to confirm this finding.

补充左旋肉碱对肝硬化肌肉痉挛的影响:一项回顾性队列研究的结果。
背景:肌肉痉挛是肝硬化常见的衰弱性并发症之一。由于这种并发症缺乏有效的治疗方法,我们旨在评估补充左旋肉碱在减少肝硬化患者肌肉痉挛的频率、持续时间和严重程度方面的有效性。方法:本回顾性队列研究对2022年11月至2023年12月在伊朗设拉子一家三级转诊医院转诊的成年患者进行了研究。经确诊的肝硬化患者,每月肌肉痉挛≥4次,无其他继发性肌肉痉挛病因,纳入评估。如果他们服用了1000毫克/天的口服左旋肉碱补充剂一个月,并且在服用补充剂之前和开始服用后一个月有可获得的痉挛评估医疗记录,他们就被纳入研究范围。结果:在筛选的702例患者中,195例(27.8%)有肌肉痉挛,91例(13.0%)符合纳入标准。纳入患者的中位年龄和肝硬化持续时间(四分位间距(IQR))分别为61.0(16.0)和2.0(3.0)岁,其中48例(53%)为男性。女性每天、每周和每月痉挛频率和严重程度的中位数更高(p值)。结论:补充左旋肉碱似乎是肝硬化痉挛的一种有希望的治疗选择。需要对对照组和更大样本进行进一步的研究来证实这一发现。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
BMC Gastroenterology
BMC Gastroenterology 医学-胃肠肝病学
CiteScore
4.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
465
审稿时长
6 months
期刊介绍: BMC Gastroenterology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary disorders, as well as related molecular genetics, pathophysiology, and epidemiology.
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