An in-vitro analysis of L-Carnitine mediated rescue of TNF-? induced apoptosis in mice oocytes

: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine implicated in various physiological and pathological events. Carnitine is a quaternary amine which plays a significant role in fatty acid oxidation and is reported to produce antiapoptotic effects. Aim of this work was to study the effect of L-Carnitine (LC) on TNF-α induced apoptosis in mice oocytes. : Oocytes were isolated from super ovulated Swiss Albino mice and treated with different concentrations of TNF-α (0.1ng/ml, 1ng/ml, 10ng/ml, 100ng/ml) and LC (0.1mg/ml, 0.3mg/ml, 0.5mg/ml, 1.0 mg/ml). TUNEL Assay was done for the biochemical assessment of apoptosis.: Apoptotic indices with different doses of TNF-α (0.1ng/ml, 1ng/ml, 10ng/ml, 100 ng/ml) were 28.5%, 71.4%, 100%, 42.8% respectively. The concentration of TNF-α that produced the highest apoptotic index was 10ng/ml. LC alone in different doses (0.1mg/ml, 0.3mg/ml, 0.5mg/ml, 1.0 mg/ml) did not elicit any apoptotic signal. Further LC was added in different doses with 10ng/ml TNF-α to study the rate of apoptosis in mice oocytes. Apoptotic index with 10 ng/ml TNF-α and different doses of LC (0.1mg/ml, 0.3mg/ml, 0.5mg/ml, 1 mg/ml) were 25%, 37.5%, 50%, 62.5% respectively. The concentration of LC that reduced the apoptotic index to the maximum was 0.1mg/ml.: Present study could demonstrate the anti-apoptotic effect of LC against apoptotic effects of TNF-α in mice oocytes. The study presents preliminary data suggesting a possible therapeutic role of LC in inflammatory etiologies such as ovarian failure.