School of Allied Health, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia.
Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4226, Australia.
Nutrients. 2017 Nov 7;9(11):1224. doi: 10.3390/nu9111224.
Carnitine deficiency has been implicated as a potential pathway for cancer-related fatigue that could be treated with carnitine supplementation. The aim of this systematic literature review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the literature regarding the use of supplemental carnitine as a treatment for cancer-related fatigue.
Using the PRISMA guidelines, an electronic search of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and reference lists was conducted. Data were extracted and independently assessed for quality using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics evidence analysis by two reviewers. In studies with positive quality ratings, a meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model on Carnitine and cancer-related fatigue.
Twelve studies were included for review with eight reporting improvement in measures of fatigue, while four reported no benefit. However, many studies were non-randomized, open-label and/or used inappropriate dose or comparators. Meta-analysis was performed in three studies with sufficient data. Carnitine did not significantly reduce cancer-related fatigue with a standardized mean difference (SMD) of 0.06 points ((95% CI -0.09, 0.21); = 0.45).
Results from studies with lower risk of bias do not support the use of carnitine supplementation for cancer-related fatigue.
肉碱缺乏被认为是癌症相关疲劳的潜在途径，可通过肉碱补充治疗。本系统文献复习和荟萃分析旨在评估关于补充肉碱治疗癌症相关疲劳的文献。
使用 PRISMA 指南，对 Cochrane 图书馆、MEDLINE、Embase、CINAHL 和参考文献列表进行电子检索。两名审查员使用营养与饮食学会的证据分析对数据进行提取和独立质量评估。在质量评分阳性的研究中，使用随机效应模型对肉碱和癌症相关疲劳进行荟萃分析。
共纳入 12 项研究进行综述，其中 8 项报告疲劳指标改善，4 项报告无益处。然而，许多研究是非随机的、开放标签的，并且/或使用了不适当的剂量或对照剂。在有足够数据的三项研究中进行了荟萃分析。肉碱并没有显著降低癌症相关疲劳，标准化均数差（SMD）为 0.06 分（95%CI-0.09,0.21）； = 0.45）。
低偏倚风险研究的结果不支持使用肉碱补充剂治疗癌症相关疲劳。
