RESUMEN
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the concentration of plasma carnitine (total, free, and acylcarnitine) during the delivery of uncomplicated pregnancies of adolescent women. To investigate the relationship between maternal and neonatal levels of carnitine and to compare these carnitine levels between pregnant and nonpregnant adolescents. DESIGN: Samples of maternal and umbilical blood were taken at the time of delivery and examined for the determination of the carnitine-total, free, and acylcarnitine-concentration by the use of an enzymatic-radioisotope method. Twenty-two cases of uncomplicated adolescent pregnancies with a normal labor and without perinatal complications were examined. The plasma level of carnitine was also examined in 17 healthy nonpregnant adolescent women, which constituted the control group. RESULTS: The concentrations of plasma carnitine in adolescent pregnancies at the time of delivery were calculated at 19.6 +/- 2.15 microMol/L (total), 12.62 +/- 1.31 microMol/L (free), and 6.98 +/- 1.55 microMol/L (acylcarnitine). The corresponding mean values in umbilical plasma were 30.31 +/- 2.06 microMol/L, 22.39 +/- 1.64 microMol/L, and 7.92 +/-.96 mucroMol/L. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean values in maternal and umbilical plasma (P <.0001 for total and free carnitine and P <.012 for acylcarnitine). The correlations between adolescent pregnant women and their infants as regards total, free, and acylcarnitine were 0.137, 0.018, and 0.33, respectively. Neither of these parameters was statistically significant. The corresponding mean values of carnitine in nonpregnant adolescent women were statistically significantly higher than in adolescent pregnant women (total carnitine: 41.61 +/- 3.09 microMol/L, free: 31.39 +/- 2.81 microMol/L, acylcarnitine: 10.22 +/- 1.88 microMol/L, P <.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The concentration of plasma carnitine at the end of adolescent pregnancy is low compared to the levels of umbilical carnitine at birth and that found in nonpregnant adolescent women. It may not have an obvious impact on the utilization of fatty acids in an uncomplicated full-term pregnancy; however, it suggests the potential risk for neonatal fatty-acid oxidation in a preterm or complicated pregnancy.
Asunto(s)
Carnitina/sangre , Trabajo de Parto/sangre , Embarazo en Adolescencia/sangre , Adolescente , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Femenino , Sangre Fetal/metabolismo , Humanos , Recién Nacido , EmbarazoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To confirm the presence of L-carnitine in human seminal plasma, to show differences between L-carnitine concentrations in fertile and infertile subjects, and to show potential relationships between L-carnitine and semen quality. STUDY DESIGN: Seminal plasma from 101 men obtained by masturbation was examined for the presence of L-carnitine. Semen samples were divided as follows: (a) in eight groups according to the etiology of fertility, (b) in two groups on the basis of normal or abnormal spermiogram, (c) correlation of the amount of L-carnitine in seminal plasma with values of the spermiogram. RESULTS: We found the following: (1) L-carnitine levels differ significantly between controls and the patient groups (P < .0001) (2) The group with normal spermiogram has a mean value for L-carnitine of 478.4 while the abnormal one comes to 100.58. This difference is statistically significant (P < .0001). (3) There is a statistically significant, positive correlation between L-carnitine and the number of spermatozoa, the percentage of motile spermatozoa, and the percentage of normal forms (P < .0001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that determination of seminal carnitine values might provide the physician with an additional means of evaluating the infertile male.
Asunto(s)
Carnitina/análisis , Infertilidad Masculina/diagnóstico , Semen/química , Espermatozoides/fisiología , Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Valor Predictivo de las Pruebas , Semen/citología , Motilidad Espermática , Espermatozoides/citologíaRESUMEN
Free total plasma carnitine and acylcarnitine were determined in 20 mothers with normal deliveries and their neonates. Women of reproductive age and children constituted the comparative control groups. The mothers had lower total and free carnitine concentrations as compared to the neonates and the differences were statistically significant. The acylcarnitine values in the mothers were higher but the differences were not statistically significant. The women had higher total and free carnitine concentrations as compared to the children, while the values of acylcarnitine were higher in the children and the differences were statistically significant. The women had higher total free carnitine concentration as compared to the mothers and the differences were statistically very significant. In contrast the concentration of acylcarnitine was higher in the mothers than in the women and the difference was statistically significant. The children had higher total and free carnitine concentrations as compared to the neonates. On the other hand the concentration of acylcarnitine was higher in the neonates than in the children. The difference was statistically significant. It appears that transfer of maternal carnitine to the fetus constitutes the main factor of determining carnitine concentration in the neonate.