Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Enghelab Avenue, 1417614411, PO Box 14155/6451, Tehran, Iran.
Immunotherapy. 2013 Sep;5(9):945-53. doi: 10.2217/imt.13.90.
To assess carnitine serum levels and possible risk factors of its deficiency in patients with TB.
PATIENTS & METHODS: All newly diagnosed TB patients admitted to an infectious diseases ward were recruited. Demographic, clinical and paraclinical characteristics of the patients were collected. Total carnitine serum concentrations were measured. To investigate factors that can predict carnitine deficiency, logistic regression analysis with odds ratio and 95% CI was performed.
The mean ± standard deviation of carnitine serum levels of patients was 43.77 ± 32.92 µmol/l. Carnitine deficiency was detected in 47.7% of the study population. According to the final model of multivariate logistic regression analysis, increased serum triglyceride levels and hypoalbuminemia were identified as predictive factors of carnitine deficiency in TB patients aged over 35 years old.
Nearly half of Iranian patients with TB were carnitine-deficient. Increased serum triglyceride levels and hypoalbuminemia were identified as independent risk factors of carnitine deficiency in patients aged over 35 years. Considering malnutrition as a major risk factor of TB and the safety of carnitine supplementation, use of carnitine as an adjunctive modality instead of other standard interventions may show beneficial effects in patients with TB.
评估结核病患者血清肉碱水平及其缺乏的可能危险因素。
招募了所有新诊断的结核病患者。收集了患者的人口统计学、临床和实验室特征。测量了总肉碱血清浓度。为了探讨可以预测肉碱缺乏的因素，采用了比值比和 95%置信区间的 logistic 回归分析。
患者的肉碱血清水平平均值±标准差为 43.77±32.92µmol/l。研究人群中 47.7%的人存在肉碱缺乏。根据多变量 logistic 回归分析的最终模型，血清甘油三酯水平升高和低白蛋白血症被确定为 35 岁以上结核病患者肉碱缺乏的预测因素。
近一半的伊朗结核病患者存在肉碱缺乏。血清甘油三酯水平升高和低白蛋白血症被确定为 35 岁以上患者肉碱缺乏的独立危险因素。考虑到营养不良是结核病的主要危险因素，以及肉碱补充的安全性，将肉碱作为辅助治疗方法而不是其他标准干预措施，可能会对结核病患者产生有益的效果。
