Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Evaluation of L-carnitine in an animal model of cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis

Mehran Bahrami-Bukani¹, Leila Zarei² , Ata Abbasi³, Negin Farhad¹, Hawdam Rostami⁴, Ali Mehrshad⁵

¹Student Research Committee; ²Solid Tumor Research Center; ³Department of Pathology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences; ⁴Department of Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University; ⁵Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran.

For correspondence:- Leila Zarei Email: leilazarei652@yahoo.com Tel:+989368203813

Accepted: 2 August 2019 Published: 28 August 2019

Citation: Bahrami-Bukani M, Zarei L, Abbasi A, Farhad N, Rostami H, Mehrshad A. Evaluation of L-carnitine in an animal model of cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(8):1661-1666 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i8.14

© 2019 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the effect of L-carnitine on atherosclerotic plaques in hyperlipidemic rabbits.

Methods: Twenty five male white New Zealand rabbits were randomized into five groups (n = 5): In the normal control (NC) group, the animals were fed on a plain chow diet for 75 days. In atherosclerosis (AS) group, the animals were fed on a hypercholesterolemic diet for 75 days. In atorvastatin (ATOR) group, the animals were fed on a hypercholesterolemic diet for 75 days and received atorvastatin via oral gavage (20 mg/kg/day) from day 45 for 30 days. In L-carnitine (L) group, the animals were fed on a hypercholesterolemic diet for 75 days and received intraperitoneal L-carnitine (250 mg/kg/day) from day 45 for 30 days (end of the study). In ATOR/L group, the animals were fed on a hypercholesterolemic diet for 75 days, and received both atorvastatin and L-carnitine with the aforementioned dosage from day 45 for 30 days. Triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in sera were determined. The aorta, including the ascending and descending parts, was excised to measure plague size (end of the study). The blood samples were taken from a marginal ear vein.

Results: Rabbits in AS group showed highly significant increase in serum total cholesterol and LDL-C levels compared to NC group (p < 0.05). Daily administration of L-carnitine significantly reduced serum levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C compared to AS (positive control) group (p < 0.05). Additionally, no significant difference was found between serum levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C in groups that received either atorvastatin or L-carnitine (p > 0.05). Combined administration of L-carnitine and atorvastatin produced no benefits over either of them alone (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: The results indicate that the administration of L-carnitine has anti-atherosclerotic effects by reducing oxidized LDL cholesterol levels but further investigations are recommended to ascertain these findings.

Keywords: L-Carnitine, Cholesterol, Atherosclerosis, Atorvastatin, Hypercholesterolemic diet