Study of Some Physiological, Biochemical and Histological Changes of Different Doses of L-Carnitine in Male Albino Rats

This study was designed to determine the physiological, biochemical and histological effects of double and excessive doses of L-Carnitine on male albino rats by estimating the concentration of urea and creatinine, the activity of liver enzymes by measuring (ALT) Alanine-amino-transferase and (AST) Aspartate-amino-transferase, and histological sections of the liver and kidney.This experiment was conducted in the animal house in the College of Education, Department of Life Sciences, where (15) animals were used in the experiment, with ages ranging from (3-5) months, and they were orally dosed with liquid L-carnitine for a full month, where the animals were randomly divided into three groups, with 5 animals in each group.The first group included the control group: This group was given water and food for a month. The second group: The double dose of L-Carnitine group: The animals in this group were given a double dose of L-Carnitine (56 mg/kg). Group 3: L-Carnitine overdose group: Animals in this group were given an excessive dose of L-Carnitine (112 mg/kg) via tube feeding at a rate of two doses per day. The animals were then starved and killed to obtain blood serum and tissue sections used in the experiment (liver and kidney).

  The results showed that dosing rats with a double dose of L-Carnitine (56 mg/kg) caused significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in the levels of urea and creatinine compared to the control group. Treating male rats with an overdose of L-Carnitine (112 mg/kg) led to a significant increase (P ≤ 0.05) in the levels of urea and creatinine compared to the control group. The results showed a significant difference in the liver enzymes AST and ALT when rats were treated with the double (56 mg/kg) and overdose (112 mg/kg) of L-Carnitine, compared to the control group. Histological sections of the livers of the double L-Carnitine (56 mg/kg) and overdose (112 mg/kg) groups showed hepatocellular degeneration, renal glomerular fragmentation in the double L-Carnitine group, and indistinguishable urinary tubules (UT) and marked hemorrhage within the kidney tissue in the overdose (112 mg/kg) of  L-Carnitine group.