Carnitine Serum Levels in Frail Older Subjects.

Giulia Malaguarnera,Vito Emanuele Catania,Enzo Vicari,Michele Malaguarnera,Gaetano Bertino,Claudia Bonfiglio

doi:10.3390/nu12123887

Giulia Malaguarnera, Vito Emanuele Catania + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123887

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Dec 19, 2020
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Catania

Abstract

Frailty is an expression that reconciles and condenses loss of autonomy, both physical and cognitive decline and a wide spectrum of adverse outcomes due to aging. The decrease in physical and cognitive activity is associated with altered mitochondrial function, and energy loss and consequently morbidity and mortality. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the carnitine levels in frailty status. The mean serum concentrations of total carnitine (TC) were lower in frail elderly subjects than in prefrail ones (p = 0.0006), higher in frail vs. robust subjects (p < 0.0001), and higher in prefrail vs. robust subjects (p < 0.0001). The mean serum concentrations of free carnitine (FC) were lower in frail elderly subjects than in prefrail ones (p < 0.0001), lower in frail vs. robust subjects (p < 0.0001) and lower in prefrail vs. robust subjects (p = 0.0009). The mean serum concentrations of acylcarnitine (AC) were higher in frail elderly subjects than in prefrail ones (p = 0.054) and were higher in pre-frail vs. robust subjects (p = 0.0022). The mean urine concentrations of TC were lower in frail elderly subjects than in prefrail ones (p < 0.05) and lower in frail vs. robust subjects (p < 0.0001). The mean urine concentrations of free carnitine were lower in frail elderly vs. robust subjects (p < 0.05). The mean urine concentrations of acyl carnitines were lower in frail elderly subjects than those in both prefrail (p < 0.0001) and robust subjects (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: high levels of carnitine may have a favorable effect on the functional status and may treat the frailty status in older subjects.

Highlights

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome characterized by a multidimensional, transitional state of increases vulnerability and loss of ability to adapt to exogenous or endogenous stress [1]
Significant differences in Body mass index (BMI) were observed between frail vs. pre frail p < 0.0001
Mitochondria have a high concentration of 22:6n−3 (Docosahexaenoic Acid)-containing phospholipids and these phospholipids may be needed for respiratory chain complexes [30,31]

Summary

Introduction

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome characterized by a multidimensional, transitional state of increases vulnerability and loss of ability to adapt to exogenous or endogenous stress [1]. The prevalence of frailty ranges from 1.0% to 22.0% [2], but due to the aging of the population, this percentage will increase resulting in high rates of hospitalization. As a consequence, it will considerably increase the public health care costs [3]. Multiple factors that contribute to frailty include inflammation, neuromuscular dysfunction, endocrine dysregulation, immune dysfunction, abnormalities in energy metabolism and central nervous system failure in older people [4,5,6,7]. The decline in the functional capabilities is multifactorial and the dysregulated mitochondrial metabolism may be a root of age-related frailty.

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