Carnitine deficiency in chronic obstructive lung disease: A study in a tertiary care centre

Abstract

Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD) is a condition where there is poor airflow to the lungs and over a period of time this condition worsen, resulting in severe morbidity. L-carnitine (LC) is a soluble qaurtenary amine and is essential for the tissues and lung tone to function normally. This study was therefore find out the association of L-carnitine in patients with chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. 75 patients who came to the Department of Pulmonology of either sex between 40 to 75 years with confirmed COPD were included into patients group and 75 healthy patients were included into the control group. Blood was collected for Fasting blood sugar, AST, ALP, ALT, Urea, Creatinine, Albumin, pre-albumin, iron , magnesium, sodium, phosphorous, calcium, Acylcarnitines, total and free carnitine levels. X-rays were taken and pulmonary function test was done for all the patients. The mean age of the patients in our study was 62.53 and 61.86 years among the patients and controls respectively. Among the controls the Ph and Fe levels were 3.1 ± 0.9mmol/L and 21.69 ± 3.19 mcg/dL respectively and among the patients the same levels were 2.6 ± 1.9mmol/L and 43.82 ± 8.22mcg/dL respectively. The albumin and the prealbumin in the patients were significantly lower in the patients with 21.81 ± 2.88 and 23.53 ±2.58 mg/dL and in controls they were 32.61 ±3.87 and 26.87 ± 1.93 mg/dL respectively. There was a considerable carnitine deficiencies in COPD patients when compared to the controls and since carnitine can be found in regular diet, people can be educated to have a proper intake of foods containing carnitine in their regular diet.