Re: L-Carnitine / Acytl L Carnitine ?

[Guest guest]

Hey Ron,L-carnitine is an amino acid. Acetyl-L-carnitine is the same amino acid, but with an "acetyl" group attached (for the chemists, -COCH3).Carnitine is important for a number of reasons in the body. The best characterized is its role in shuttling fatty acids inside cells to be used as fuel to produce that critical energy molecule, ATP. It also helps to manage inflammation. Back in 1993, an observational study used a high dose of 6 grams over a short period in people with HIV and what they saw was a marker of inflammation, TNF (tumor necrosis factor), was normalized. That is, if it was high, it came down. If it was at a normal level, it didn't decline (which is GOOD; studies of pentoxifylline and thalidomide wound up wiping out TNF; it's there for some good reasons!)Acetyl-carnitine I think is preferable for those with neuropathy. 3000 mg (3 grams) per day was shown in a study by Youle et al. to have an effect in ameliorating neuropathy.I think then that carnitine as a part of a comprehensive approach to managing the inflammatory/oxidative stress aspects of HIV disease (and negative aspects of antiviral therapy) makes sense. Practically, it is not cheap and the carnitine is sometimes covered by insurance/Medicaid/ADAP...but then the increasing co-pays almost wipe out the difference, compared to prices at places like the Houston or New York Buyers' Clubs (I work at the latter). M. On Dec 11, 2008, at 7:34 PM, RAMB46@... wrote:Hi Guys,   Could someone please tell me the difference Between the two?I take L-Carnitine & have for quite some time. I'm not sure why I am taking this along with NAC, L-Argine. But I was advised that the L-Carnitine was helpfull with HIV by Jeff the nutrtionist on this list.             Thanks for getting this straight for me,               Ron