Background: The level and profiles of blood free carnitine and acylcarnitines, obtained by acylcarnitine analysis\nusing tandem mass spectrometry, reflect various metabolic conditions. We aimed to examine the level of free\ncarnitine and acylcarnitines in liver cirrhosis patients by acylcarnitine analysis and determine the clinical and\nsubjective factors associated with blood carnitine fraction levels in liver cirrhosis.\nMethods: We compared blood carnitine fractions in 54 liver cirrhotic patients to other laboratory test results and\nquestionnaire answers.\nResults: In almost all patients, the blood levels of free carnitine (C0) and acetylcarnitine (C2) were within the\nnormal reference range. However, in some patients, the levels of long-chain acylcarnitines, such as C16 and C18:1-\nacylcarnitine, were higher than the normal reference range. Liver function, assessed by Child-Pugh score, was\nsignificantly correlated with the blood level of each carnitine fraction measured (C0, C2, C3, C4, C6, C10, C12, C12:1,\nC14:1, C16, C18:1, and C18:2-acylcarnitine). Cirrhotic symptom score was significantly correlated with C0, C2, C3, C16,\nand C18â??1-acylcarnitine blood levels. Among the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) items, the physical\ncomponent summary was significantly associated with C0, C2, and C18â??1-acylcarnitine blood levels.\nConclusions: Carnitine fraction levels were positively correlated with liver cirrhosis stage, particularly, long-chain\nacylcarnitines. Moreover, carnitine fraction levels were associated with various subjective physical symptoms in liver\ncirrhosis patients.
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