Background: Osteoarthritis is associated with obesity, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular diseases. It has been hypothesized that L-carnitine can improve cardiovascular risk factors. We aimed to investigate the effect of L-carnitine supplementation on lipid accumulation product (LAP) and atherogenic indices in women with overweight/obesity who have knee osteoarthritis.
Methods: In this double-blind randomized controlled trial, seventy-six women with overweight/obesity who had knee osteoarthritis were assigned into the intervention group and control group for 12 weeks. The intervention group received 1000 mg/day L-carnitine as capsule, and the control group received placebo. The primary outcomes were LAP, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), atherogenic coefficient (AC) and Castelli risk index II (CRI-II).
Results: We found no significant difference between the groups in baseline values of LAP, AIP, AC and CRI-II. After the intervention, a significant reduction in LAP was observed in intervention group compared to the control group (- 11.05 (- 28.24 to 0.40) vs. - 5.82 (- 24.44 to 2.68); P = 0.03). However, there was no significant difference between two groups in AIP (- 0.05 ± 0.16 vs. - 0.01 ± 0.13; P = 0.19), AC (- 0.40 ± 0.81 vs. - 0.30 ± 0.67; P = 0.67) and CRI-II (- 0.20 ± 0.76 vs. - 0.21 ± 0.47; P = 0.11).
Conclusions: L-carnitine supplementation for 12 weeks can improve LAP, but it has no effect on cardiovascular outcomes. To reach a definitive conclusion, further clinical trials with larger sample sizes and higher dosages of L-carnitine are needed.
Trial registration: Registered on 27/4/2017 at Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT2017011932026N2.
Keywords: Cardiovascular risk; Knee osteoarthritis; L-carnitine; Lipid accumulation product.
© 2022. The Author(s).