Table 1.
Characteristic of the studies included in the meta-analysis
| References | Country | Study design | Participants | Sex | Mean age (intervention/control) | Mean BMI (intervention/control) | Trial duration (week) | Daily dose of L-carnitine (mg) | Daily dose of L-carnitine (mg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malaguarnera et al. (2002) | Italy | R | Patients with chronic hepatitis C | F/M | 56.8±7.2/ 57.7±6.1 | NR/NR | 24 | >2,000 | 35/35 |
| Romano et al. (2008) | Italy | R | Patients with chronic hepatitis C | F/M | 50.1±6.1/ 50.4±5.6 | 25.8/25.7 | 24/48 | >2,000 | 35/35 |
| Malaguarnera et al. (2010) | Italy | R/DB/PC | Patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis | F/M | 47.9±5.4/ 47.8±5.8 | 26.6/26.5 | 24 | >2,000 | 36/38 |
| Hong et al. (2014) | Korea | R/DB/PC | Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with impaired glucose metabolism | F/M | 51.5±9.4/ 52.0±9.6 | 27.2/27.0 | 12 | 900 | 26/26 |
| Bae et al. (2015) | Korea | R/DB/PC | Patients with fatty liver disease with type 2 diabetes | F/M | 50.6±9.3/ 52.0±9.4 | 28.2/26.7 | 12 | 2,472 | 39/39 |
| Alavinejad et al. (2016) | Iran | R/DB/PC | Patients with fatty liver disease with type 2 diabetes | F/M | 60±5/59±9 | 28.6/29.5 | 12 | 2250 | 28/26 |
DB, double-blinded; PC, placebo-controlled; R, randomized; NR, not reported; F, female; M, male.