The effect of L-carnitine on cardiac injury in an experimental aortic ischemia-reperfusion injury model

Patients and methods: Twenty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200 to 250 g were used in this study. The rats were randomly divided into three equal groups (n=8). L-carnitine was administered intraperitoneally 200 mg/kg/day to the treated group (IR+L-carnitine), while the control and IR groups were given intraperitoneal injection of physiological saline three days before the surgical procedure. In the control group, laparotomy and infrarenal abdominal aorta preparation were performed; however, infrarenal abdomianal aorta occlusion was not provided. In the IR and the treated groups (IR+L-carnitine), infrarenal abdominal aorta was clamped with a cross-clamp for 45 min. Removal of the cross-clamp was followed by reperfusion for 10 h. In the treated group, five min before the removal of the aortic clamp, intraperitoneal 200 mg/kg L-carnitine was administered. At the end of the reperfusion period, the rats were sacrificed, and the samples were taken for biochemical and histopathological examinations. Creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), myoglobin, and troponin I levels were measured at 0, 4, and 10 h. Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) as the biomarker of cardiac ischemia and myeloperoxidase as an indicator of inflammatory response after I/R injury were measured at 10 h. Heart tissue samples were taken for histopathological examination.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference among the control, IR, and IR/L-carnitine groups in terms of the plasma levels of myoglobin, CK-MB, troponin I, myeloperoxidase, and H-FABP levels at 0, 4, and 10 h (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Our study results showed that L-carnitine failed to promote a significant effect on the reduction of ischemic injury in the experimental infrarenal aortic cross-clamp-induced I/R model in rats.