Table I.
Characteristics of the included studies.
| Bloomer et al. (23) | Derosa et al. (20) | Derosa et al. (21) | Hakeshzadeh et al. (24) | Malaguarnera et al. (22) | Shakeri et al. (25) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jadad score | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | |
| Year | 2009 | 2011 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | |
| Location | USA | Italy | Italy | Iran | Italy | Iran | |
| Underlying disease | Prediabetes | Uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus | Obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus | Hemodialysis patients | Patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis | Hemodialysis patients with Lp (a) hyperlipoproteinemia | |
| Duration | 8 weeks | 48 weeks | 48 weeks | 12 weeks | 12 weeks | 12 weeks | |
| Control treatment | Placebo | Sibutramine (10 mg/d) | Orlistat (120 mg/d) | Placebo | Placebo | None | |
| Allocation in case group | 3 g/d acetyl L-carnitine arginate (eq 1350 mg acetyl L-carnitine/day + 1200 mg/day arginine) | L-carnitine (2 g/day) + sibutramine (10 mg/day) | L-carnitine (2 g/day) + orlistat (120 mg/day) | L-carnitine (1 g/day) | L-carnitine (2 g/day) | L-carnitine (1 g/day) | |
| N | Case | 14 | 129 | 126 | 18 | 36 | 18 |
| Control | 15 | 125 | 132 | 18 | 38 | 18 | |
| Age | Case | 31±3 | 54±5 | 51 ± 4 | 48 ± 10 | 47.9 ± 5.4 | 54.5±19.0 |
| Control | 35±3 | 51±4 | 53 ± 6 | 52 ± 14 | 47.8 ± 5.8 | 57.0±20.0 | |
| %Males | Case | Ns | 50.4 | 49.2 | 33 | 55.6 | 67 |
| Control | NR | 50.4 | 49.2 | 50 | 52.6 | 61 | |
| Smoking | Case | 0 | 31.8 | 32.6 | 0 | NR | 17 |
| Control | 0 | 33.6 | 36.5 | 0 | NR | 6 | |
| Weight (kg) | Case | 85±4* | 96.9±10.8 | 95.1±10.3 | 59±8 | NR | 65±16 |
| Control | 91±5 | 97.7±11.4 | 94.5±9.6 | 64±9 | NR | 63±11 | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | Case | 28.5±1.9 | 33.9±3.5 | 32.9±2.8 | 24±4 | 26.6±3.7 | 23±4 |
| Control | 31.7±2.1 | 33.4±3.2 | 33.1±2.9 | 24.5±4 | 26.5±3.8 | 23±3 | |
| TC (mmol/L) | Case | 5.6±0.3 | 5.7±0.7 | 5.8±0.6 | NR | 6.3± 0.6 | NR |
| Control | 4.8±0.4 | 5.8±0.7 | 5.7±0.6 | NR | 6.0±0.9 | NR | |
| TG (mmol/L) | Case | NR | 1.2±0.5 | 1.2±0.5 | NR | 3.1±0.9 | NR |
| Control | NR | 1.2±0.5 | 1.2±0.5 | NR | 3.0±1.0 | NR | |
| HDL-C (mmol/L) | Case | 1.3±0.2 | 1.1±0.2 | 1.1±0.2 | NR | 0.9±0.1 | NR |
| Control | 1.2±0.1 | 1.1±0.2 | 1.2±0.2 | NR | 1.0±0.1 | NR | |
| LDL-C (mmol/L) | Case | 3.3±0.3 | 4.1±0.4 | 4.1±0.4 | NR | 4.7±0.8 | NR |
| Control | 3.2±0.2 | 4.1±0.4 | 4.0±0.4 | NR | 4.4±0.9 | NR | |
| FPG (mmol/L) | Case | 6.0±0.3 | 8.1±1.2 | 7.8±1.1 | NR | 6.1±0.7 | NR |
| Control | 6.2±0.3 | 8.0±1.1 | 7.5±0.9 | NR | 6.0±0.7 | NR |
*
Values are stated as mean ± SD.
NR: not reported.