Study Suggests L-Carnitine as a New Supplement for Huntington’s Disease Patients

by | Jun 26, 2012 | 2012, Amino Acids, Carnitine

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Out of 23 patients with Huntington’s Disease , 6 had Carnitine deficiency. After 6 months of treatment with supplementation of L-carnitine, the carnitine group showed 14.1% improvement in motor functionality compared to the placebo group.

Huntington’s Disease is characterized by a gradual breakdown of nerve cells in the brain (1) across several stages (2), each indicative of a general decline in overall motor function. Most cases occur when patients are in their 40’s and 50’s but can occur earlier in life. Now research (3) suggests that L-carnitine, an amino acid shown to improve fat use by cells (4), may help patients with Huntington’s disease.

In the study, 23 patients diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease had their blood levels of the amino acid carnitine measured and six patients (26.1% of the group) were found to be deficient (27 micromoles/Liter). The researchers supplemented the carnitine-deficient patients with 715 mg per day of l-carnitine for an average of 7 months and did no treatments with the carnitine-sufficient group (55 micromoles/L). All patients were given a diet that followed the National Academy of Sciences guidelines for a balanced, calorie-controlled diet for Huntington’s Disease patients, individually adjusted four times per year if needed (4).

Before the study, at 6 months, and at 12 months, each patient underwent tests specific for Huntington’s Disease that produced a Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale score (5). This score is a measure of four areas of function in Huntington’s Disease patients: motor function, cognitive function, behavioral abnormalities, and functional capacity. A decrease in the patients’ scores indicated improved function (6).

After 6 months of l-carnitine supplementation, there was a 9.1% decrease in the deficient group (52.8 to 48.0) compared to a 5% increase in the group not receiving any supplementation (54.5 to 57.2). At 12 months, after l-carnitine supplementation had stopped for several months, the deficient group’s scores increased by 6.25% (48.0 to 51.2) compared to a further 5.7% increase in the placebo group (57.2 to 60.5).

For the researchers, “Our findings suggest that Huntington’s Disease patients with low blood levels of carnitine may benefit from low-dose l-carnitine supplementation.”

Source: Cuturic, Miroslav, et al. “Serum carnitine levels and levocarnitine supplementation in institutionalized Huntington’s disease patients.” Neurological Sciences 34.1 (2013): 93-98.

Copyright © 2012, Springer-Verlag

Posted June 26, 2012.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. “Hungtington’s Disease” – posted on the Mayo Clinic website.
  2. “Stages of HD” – posted on the Huntington’s Disease Society of America website.
  3. Cuturic M.  Serum carnitine levels and levocarnitine supplementation in institutionalized Huntington’s disease patients.  Neuro Sci 2012; DOI 10.1007/s10072-012-0952-x.
  4. Rebouche CJ.  Kinetics, pharmacokinetics,and regulation of L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine metabolism. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2004; 1033:30–41.
  5. Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale score – from the Movement Disorders Publication.
  6. NationalAcademyof Sciences Summary of WIC nutrition risk criteria: a scientific assessment. Committee on Scientific Evaluation of WICNutrition Risk Criteria Food andNutrition Board,InstituteofMedicine. J Am Diet Assoc  1996; 96:925–930.