Falsini B, Porciatti V, Bolzani R, Marchionni A
Eye Clinic, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1991;229(3):262-6. doi: 10.1007/BF00167881.
Acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC) is a neuroactive compound that is thought to be involved in cholinergic transmission. The effects of acute intravenous LAC administration (30 mg/kg) on pattern-evoked electroretinograms (P-ERGs) were evaluated in nine healthy volunteers ranging in age between 21 and 27 years. Nine age-matched, normal subjects treated with a placebo served as controls. Steady-state (8 Hz) P-ERGs recorded in response to counterphased sinusoidal gratings of variable spatial frequency (0.6-4.8 cycles/degree) were obtained before and at 20, 50 and 80 min after LAC or placebo administration. The amplitude and phase of the Fourier-analysed P-ERG second harmonic were measured. As compared with placebo-treated controls, LAC-treated subjects showed a selective P-ERG amplitude increase (Mann-Whitney rank test: P less than 0.05), which was found 80 min posttreatment at a spatial frequency of 4.8 cycles/degree. For the same stimulus a significant (P less than 0.05) P-ERG phase shortening (at 50 min after drug administration) was also found. The spatial frequencies of other stimuli did not show a significant difference between the LAC- and placebo-treated groups. These results indicate that acute LAC administration induces a spatial-frequency-dependent enhancement of the human P-ERG. This is compatible with a cholinergic excitatory effect and suggests a therapeutic role for this compound in retinal dysfunctions with selective vulnerability to medium-high spatial frequencies.
乙酰左旋肉碱（LAC）是一种神经活性化合物，被认为与胆碱能传递有关。在9名年龄在21至27岁之间的健康志愿者中，评估了急性静脉注射LAC（30mg/kg）对图形诱发视网膜电图（P-ERG）的影响。9名年龄匹配的接受安慰剂治疗的正常受试者作为对照。在注射LAC或安慰剂之前以及之后20、50和80分钟，记录对不同空间频率（0.6-4.8周期/度）的反相正弦光栅做出反应的稳态（8Hz）P-ERG。测量傅里叶分析的P-ERG二次谐波的幅度和相位。与接受安慰剂治疗的对照组相比，接受LAC治疗的受试者的P-ERG幅度有选择性增加（曼-惠特尼秩和检验：P<0.05），在治疗后80分钟、空间频率为4.8周期/度时发现。对于相同刺激，还发现了显著的（P<0.05）P-ERG相位缩短（在给药后50分钟）。其他刺激的空间频率在LAC治疗组和安慰剂治疗组之间未显示出显著差异。这些结果表明，急性给予LAC可诱导人P-ERG的空间频率依赖性增强。这与胆碱能兴奋作用相符，并表明该化合物在对中高空间频率有选择性易损性的视网膜功能障碍中具有治疗作用。
