Influence of levocarnitine on microinflammation status and associated inflammatory factors in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Objective To study the effects of levocamitine(L-CN)by intravenous injection on microinflammation status and associated inflammatory factors in maintenance hemodialysis(MHD)patients.Methods Seventy-six maintenance hemodialysis(6 months)patients were enrolled,and the patients were randomly divided into treatment group(n=40) and control group(n=36).Patients in the treatment group were injected with levocarnitine(1.0g)after every dialysis for three months,while patients in the control group accepted normal saline.The blood biochemical indicators,serum hs-CRP, IL-6,IL-8,TNF-a levels were measured and compared at the experiment onset,1 month and 3 months later.Results The hs-CRP,IL-6,IL-8,TNF-a levels were obviously decreased in the treatment group after 1 month(all P0.05),and they were all significantly difference between treatment and control groups(all P0.05).But there were no significant difference in control group(all P0.05).All markers in the treatment group were decreased further after 3 months(all P0.01), and the difference between two groups was more significant(all P0.01),and there were still no significant difference in control group(all P0.05).Conclusion It demonstrated that the levocamitine could reduce the serum level of hs-CRP,IL- 6,IL-8,TNF-α,and improve the microinflammation status in maintenance hemodialysis patients.