EFFECTS OF L-CARNITINE ON ERYTHROCYTE ACYL-COA, FREE COA, AND GLYCEROPHOSPHOLIPID ACYLTRANSFERASE IN UREMIA

We studied the effects of L-carnitine treatment in the acyl flux of er ythrocyte membranes from uremic patients. We found a significantly low er relative proportion of long-chain acyl-CoA (LCCoA) to free CoA (FCo A) in patients than in control subjects. In addition, patients had red uced activities of both carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) and glyce rophospholipid acyltransferase (LAT; CoA dependent), and increased rat ios of long-chain acylcarnitine (LCAC) to free carnitine in their eryt hrocytes. These data support the hypothesis that acyl-trafficking is a ltered in erythrocytes in uremia. After treatment with L-carnitine, we observed a significant increase in CPT and LAT activities as well as in the LCCoA-FCoA ratio, and a significant decrease in the ratio of LC AC to free carnitine. These results support the conclusion that L-carn itine supplementation improves erythrocyte flux in uremic patients.