Cancer Research Group, Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Clin Nutr. 2012 Dec;31(6):889-95. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2012.03.005. Epub 2012 May 19.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Tumour growth is associated with weight loss resulting from both adipose and muscle wasting.
Administration of L-carnitine (1 g/kg body weight) to rats bearing the AH-130 Yoshida ascites hepatoma, a highly cachectic rat tumour.
The treatment results in a significant improvement of food intake and in muscle weight (gastrocnemius, EDL and soleus). These beneficial effects are directly related to improved physical performance (total physical activity, mean movement velocity and total travelled distance). Administration of L-carnitine decreases proteasome activity and the expression of genes related with this activity, such as ubiquitin, C8 proteasome subunit and MuRF-1. Interestingly, L-carnitine treatment also decreases caspase-3 mRNA content therefore suggesting a modulation of apoptosis. Moreover, addition of 50 μM of L-carnitine to isolated EDL muscles results in a significant decrease in the proteolytic rate suggesting a direct effect.
It can be concluded that L-carnitine supplementation may be a good approach for a multi-targeted therapy for the treatment of cancer-related cachexia.
肿瘤生长与体重下降有关，包括脂肪和肌肉消耗。
给荷瘤（AH-130 吉田腹水肝癌）大鼠施用左旋肉碱（1 g/kg 体重）。
该治疗显著改善了食物摄入和肌肉重量（比目鱼肌、EDL 和跖肌）。这些有益作用与运动能力的提高直接相关（总体力活动、平均运动速度和总行进距离）。左旋肉碱可降低蛋白酶体活性和与该活性相关的基因表达，如泛素、C8 蛋白酶体亚基和 MuRF-1。有趣的是，左旋肉碱治疗还降低了 caspase-3 mRNA 含量，提示其对细胞凋亡有调节作用。此外，向分离的 EDL 肌肉中加入 50 μM 的左旋肉碱可显著降低蛋白水解率，提示其具有直接作用。
左旋肉碱补充可能是治疗癌症相关性恶病质的多靶点治疗的一种有效方法。
