Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the effects of l-carnitine as an adjunct therapy to percutanenous coronary intervention (PCI) for non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEMI).
Materials and methods
Ninety-six consecutive patients with NSTEMI were randomized into treatment group (l-carnitine 5 g IV bolus followed by 10 g/day IV infusion for 3 days), and control group. All patients also underwent PCI within 24 h from the onset of chest pain. The peak values of creatine kinase-MB and troponin-I before and after PCI were observed.
Results
In the treatment group, the peak values of creatine kinase-MB were significantly lower than the control group at 12 h and 24 h after PCI (P < 0.01). The peak values of troponin-I in the treatment group were also lower than the control group at 8 h after PCI (P < 0.01). Multivariate regression analysis showed that l-carnitine therapy was an independent predictor for the reduction of creatine kinase-MB (r = 0.596, P < 0.001) or troponin-I (r = 0.633, P < 0.001).
Conclusion
l-carnitine adjunct therapy appears to be associated with a reduced level of cardiac markers in patients with NSTEMI. These results support a larger clinical trial to investigate the effect of l-carnitine on cardiac events following PCI.
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Xue, YZ., Wang, LX., Liu, HZ. et al. l-carnitine as an Adjunct Therapy to Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 21, 445–448 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10557-007-6056-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10557-007-6056-9