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Plasma Carnitine in Alcoholism
Author(s) -
Fuller Richard K.,
Hoppel Charles L.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1988.tb00256.x
Subject(s) - carnitine , medicine , endocrinology , coenzyme a , alcoholic liver disease , mitochondrion , fatty liver , homeostasis , plasma levels , chemistry , disease , biochemistry , cirrhosis , enzyme , reductase
Carnitine is essential for the β‐oxidation of long‐chain fatty acids in the mitochondria and probably has a major role in modulating the acyl‐coenzyme A/reduced coenzyme A ratio in the matrix of mitochondria. Plasma carnitine concentrations are elevated in several conditions and reflect changes at the cellular level. We previously had reported elevated plasma carnitine in patients with alcoholic liver disease compared to healthy control subjects. In this study we measured plasma carnitine in a third group, alcoholic patients without overt liver disease. The alcoholic patients ( n =20) had significantly elevated plasma long‐chain acylcarnitine ( P <0.01) compared to 32 healthy men of identical age and significantly lower short‐chain ( P <0.01) and long‐chain acylcarnitine ( P <0.01) than 28 men with alcoholic liver disease. We conclude that alcoholism is another condition in which carnitine homeostasis is altered.