The Effect of Levocarnitine on Dynamics of the Brain Bioelectrical Activity Formation in Term Infants Delivered by Cesarean Section: Open Randomized Study Results

Abstract

The brain activity of a newborn affects postnatal adaptation, the disorder of which can cause dysfunction of organs and systems of the immature organism and the development of diseases in more distant periods of maturation. Objective: Our aim was to study the effect of levocarnitine on dynamics of the brain bioelectrical activity formation in term infants delivered by cesarean section. Methods. The study included term infants (gestation period 38–40 weeks) delivered by cesarean section, with perinatal hypoxic lesion of the central nervous system (cerebral ischemia). Children were randomized into groups of standard (recommended) treatment and standard treatment enhanced with levocarnitine (plus levocarnitine) — 30% oral solution at a dose of 100 mg/kg per day for 3 weeks starting from the 7th day of life. The brain bioelectrical activity was assessed with electroencephalography (EEG) of the natural sleep period on the 3rd–6th day and then at 3, 6, and 12 months. Results. 45 children were randomized into groups of standard treatment and standard treatment plus levocarnitine, of which 44 and 40 children completed the study, respectively. Initially, the delayed formation of age-related brain activity was detected in 16/40 (40%) children receiving levocarnitine and in 19/44 (43%) in the experimental group (p = 0.767), disturbances in the EEG sleep pattern with generation of background anomalies — in 17 (43%) and 16 (36%) (p = 0.565), pathological graph elements — in 1 (3%) and 2 (5%) children (p = 0.536), respectively. According to the dynamic EEG control results, it was found that after 1 year the cerebral dysfunction was registered less frequently in children receiving levocarnitine — in 32 (80%) vs. 42 (96%) children in the group of standard treatment (p = 0.028). Conclusion. Adminisration of levocarnitine in the neonatal period reduces the risk of developing cerebral dysfunction by the end of the first year of life.