Acetyl L-Carnitine

Intro

L-carnitine is a quaternary ammonium compound, which can be synthesised in the body or absorbed from food sources, primarily red meat, but also from a wide group of vegetable sources. Acetyl L-carnitine (ALCAR) is thought to be a more bio-available form and many of the successful studies have been conducted using ALCAR . L-carnitine acts as a transporter of fatty acids into the mitochondria and helps with energy production. It also has regulatory effects on acetyl-CoA, a crucial compound that has a wide range of roles in multiple energy production pathways.

Please see below for a list of the benefits of ALCAR supplementation and the major studies supporting them. Areas where ALCAR has been used:

Acetyl Carnitine for Cognitive Health

* Age-related cognitive decline [1, 2, 3, 4] and more specifically:

o Peripheral Neuropathy [5, 6]

o Alzheimer’s [7, 8, 9]

* Cardiovascular disease [10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28]

* Aging [29, 30, 31, 32]

* Athletic performance [33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41]

* Fibromyalgia [42]

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Acetyl L-Carnitine Acetyl Carnitine Molecular Structure

Updated on 13th July 2009 by Dr Charles Tweed

Intro

L-carnitine is a quaternary ammonium compound, which can be synthesised in the body or absorbed from food sources, primarily red meat, but also from a wide group of vegetable sources. Acetyl L-carnitine (ALCAR) is thought to be a more bio-available form and many of the successful studies have been conducted using ALCAR . L-carnitine acts as a transporter of fatty acids into the mitochondria and helps with energy production. It also has regulatory effects on acetyl-CoA, a crucial compound that has a wide range of roles in multiple energy production pathways.

Please see below for a list of the benefits of ALCAR supplementation and the major studies supporting them. Areas where ALCAR has been used:

Acetyl Carnitine for Cognitive Health

* Age-related cognitive decline [1, 2, 3, 4] and more specifically:

o Peripheral Neuropathy [5, 6]

o Alzheimer’s [7, 8, 9]

* Cardiovascular disease [10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28]

* Aging [29, 30, 31, 32]

* Athletic performance [33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41]

* Fibromyalgia [42]

Please see the Google Scholar links below for dynamic, constantly updating data of recent studies so that you can research Acetyl Carnitine's benefits for yourself.

# Google Scholar Age-related cognitive decline

# Alzheimer’s

# Peripheral neuropathy

# Cardiovascular disease

# Aging

# Athletic performance

# Fibromyalgia

The science

The area it is most commonly used is for the prevention of age related cognitive decline, usually on conjunction with Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA). This work has been pioneered by Bruce Ames and co-workers in San Diego. There is excellent evidence it works in the rat model and now also in large mammals such as dogs. Human studies are currently underway and we await the results eagerly. It has also been shown that numerous biomarkers of the aging process have been significantly reduced by administering the combination of ALCAR and ALA, including the amount of DNA damage in numerous tissues. The data for Alzheimer’s are so far disappointing but there may be some benefit in younger people affected by this terrible process. There is reasonable evidence to suggest L-carnitine is useful for people with cardiovascular disease. It seems to reliably improve exercise capacity in people with heart disease (angina and heart failure) and improves the distance people with blocked leg arteries can walk (intermittent claudication). Of note, many of these studies use intravenous forms and/or high doses, for at least some of the study period. Data for HIV and athletic performance are so limited no conclusions can be drawn.

Safety

At high doses, ALCAR can produce a stimulatory effect and insomnia. Some people are more prone to this than others and dose adjustment may be required. At very high dose, some people experience some gastrointestinal irritation. No data are available for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

aging-management.com Buyer's Guide and Recommendation

We recommend taking between 600-1000mg per day of AOR's Acetyl Carnitine with meals, at the beginning of the day for age-related cognitive decline, aging and cardiovascular disease. We strongly suggest taking it in conjunction with Alpha Lipoic Acid.

References:

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2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Feb 19;99(4):2356-61. Memory loss in old rats is associated with brain mitochondrial decay and RNA/DNA oxidation: partial reversal by feeding acetyl-L-carnitine and/or Ralpha -lipoic acid. Liu J, Head E, Gharib AM, Yuan W, Ingersoll RT, Hagen TM, Cotman CW, Ames BN. Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

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5. Exp Neurol. 2007 Nov 17 Prevention of paclitaxel-evoked painful peripheral neuropathy by acetyl-lcarnitine: Effects on axonal mitochondria, sensory nerve fiber terminal arbors, and cutaneous Langerhans cells. Jin HW, Flatters SJ, Xiao WH, Mulhern HL, Bennett GJ. Department of Anesthesia, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.

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20. Study on propionyl-L-carnitine in chronic heart failure. Eur Heart J. 1999;20(1):70-76. (PubMed)

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28. Brevetti G, Perna S, Sabba C, et al. Superiority of L-propionylcarnitine vs Lcarnitine in improving walking capacity in patients with peripheral vascular disease: an acute, intravenous, double-blind, cross-over study. Eur Heart J. 1992;13(2):251-255. (PubMed)

29. Savitha S, Sivarajan K, Haripriya D, Kokilavani V, Panneerselvam C. Efficacy of levo carnitine and alpha lipoic acid in ameliorating the decline in mitochondrial enzymes during aging. Clin Nutr. 2005;24(5):794-800.

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32. Muthuswamy AD, Vedagiri K, Ganesan M, Chinnakannu P. Oxidative stressmediated macromolecular damage and dwindle in antioxidant status in aged rat brain regions: role of L-carnitine and DL-alpha-lipoic acid. Clin Chim Acta. 2006;368(1-2):84-92.

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38. Brass EP, Hoppel CL, Hiatt WR. Effect of intravenous L-carnitine on carnitine homeostasis and fuel metabolism during exercise in humans. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1994;55(6):681-692. (PubMed)

39. Trappe SW, Costill DL, Goodpaster B, Vukovich MD, Fink WJ. The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on performance during interval swimming. Int J Sports Med. 1994;15(4):181-185. (PubMed)

40. Vukovich MD, Costill DL, Fink WJ. Carnitine supplementation: effect on muscle carnitine and glycogen content during exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994;26(9):1122-1129. (PubMed)

41. J Physiol. 2007 Jun 1;581(Pt 2):431-44. Epub 2007 Mar 1. New insights concerning the role of carnitine in the regulation of fuel metabolism in skeletal muscle. Stephens FB, Constantin-Teodosiu D, Greenhaff PL. Centre for Integrated Systems Biology and Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.

42. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2007 Mar-Apr;25(2):182-8. Double-blind, multicenter trial comparing acetyl l-carnitine with placebo in the treatment of fibromyalgia patients. Rossini M, Di Munno O, Valentini G, Bianchi G, Biasi G, Cacace E, Malesci D, La Montagna G, Viapiana O, Adami S. Rheumatology Unit, University of Verona, Italy.