Effects of acetyl-L-carnitine and oxfenicine on aorta stiffness in diabetic rats

Eur J Clin Invest 2010; 40 (11): 1002–1010 Background We compared the haemodynamic and metabolic effects of acetyl‐L‐carnitine (one of the carnitine derivatives) and of oxfenicine (a carnitine palmitoyltransferase‐1 inhibitor) in streptozotocin‐induced diabetes in male Wistar rats. Materials and methods Diabetes was induced by a single tail vein injection of 55 mg kg−1 streptozotocin. The diabetic animals daily treated with either acetyl‐L‐carnitine (150 mg kg−1 in drinking water) or oxfenicine (150 mg kg−1 by oral gavage) for 8 weeks,were compared with the untreated age‐matched diabetic controls. Arterial wave reflection was derived using the impulse response function of the filtered aortic input impedance spectra. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) measurement was used to estimate malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Results Oxfenicine, but not acetyl‐L‐carnitine, increased total peripheral resistance in diabetes, which paralleled its elevation in plasma levels of free fatty acids. By contrast, acetyl‐L‐carnitine, but not oxfenicine, resulted in a significant increase in wave transit time and a decrease in wave reflection factor, suggesting that acetyl‐L‐carnitine may attenuate the diabetes‐induced deterioration in systolic loading condition for the left ventricle. This was in parallel with its lowering of MDA/TBARS content in plasma and aortic walls in diabetes. Acetyl‐L‐carnitine therapy also prevented the diabetes‐related cardiac hypertrophy, as evidenced by the reduction in ratio of the left ventricular weight to body weight. Conclusion Acetyl‐L‐carnitine, but not oxfenicine, attenuates aortic stiffening and cardiac hypertrophy, possibly through its decrease of lipid oxidation‐derived MDA/TBARS in the rats with insulin deficiency.