Oral L-carnitine administration after jejunoileal by-pass surgery.

Jejunoileal bypass surgery was performed on 14 morbidly obese women. Seven were treated with 3/g/day oral L-carnitine for ten days before surgery and for another ten days at six weeks following surgery. The other seven were not treated with carnitine. Carnitine administration was found to be without effect on plasma lipids, free fatty acids and ketones and on all other tested indicators. However, plasma levels of carnitine and the rate of urinary elimination of carnitine both after treatment and after an acute oral load were increased before and after surgery, indicating that carnitine was well absorbed by the shortened gut. Rate of elimination of short chain carnitine esters via the urine was also elevated after treatment. Surgery resulted in a marked decrease of plasma lipids but in no change in apolipoprotein A and B concentrations.