Experimental and clinical studies on the effects of L-carnitine in minimal hepatic encephalopathy

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25461009
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Gastroenterology
• Research Institution: Iwate Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Suzuki kazuyuki 岩手医科大学, 医学部, 名誉教授 (00137499)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): Sawara Kei 岩手医科大学, 内科学講座消化器内科肝臓分野, 助教 (40405816) ; Wang Ting 岩手医科大学, 内科学講座消化器内科肝臓分野, 助教 (70416171)
• Research Collaborator: Kakisaka Keisuke 岩手医科大学, 内科学講座消化器内科肝臓分野, 助教 ; Kuroda Hidekatsu 岩手医科大学, 内科学講座消化器内科肝臓分野, 助教 ; Kato Akinobu 盛岡市立病院, 院長
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: カルニチン / ミニマル肝性脳症 / 肝硬変 / アンモニア / 血清遊離脂肪酸 / アストロサイト

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Clinical study: The levels of serum carnitine in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) were almost within normal range. Approximately 11% of LC patients had serum CA levels < 45μmol/L. The serum CA levels did not correlate with severity of liver damage and the existence of MHE, but were closely associated with renal dysfunction. The serum free fatty acid levels strongly correlated with serum Ac-CA levels and the Ac-CA to T-CA ratio. The improvement of hyperammonemia was observed 46% of LC patients administrated L-CA.
Experimental study: Cell viability and intracellular total ROS and LDH leakage of human astrocytes were significantly increased after treatment with NH4Cl, while cotreatment with L-CA significantly improved these cytotoxic changes. In metabolome analysis, although the expression levels of the all essential amino acids showed high in the NH4Cl-treated cells, these changes were improved in cotreatment with L-CA. L-CA may protect astrocytes against the toxic effects of NH4Cl.

Free Research Field

肝臓病学