L-Carnitine and Reduced Mortality Risk

Across 3 studies, L-carnitine supplementation was associated with reduced mortality risk, with 2 studies reporting beneficial large effects and 1 reporting a neutral small effect. The evidence is preliminary due to the small number of studies and varying populations (critically ill patients, COVID-19 patients, liver transplant candidates). The most common dose was 3000 mg/day, and the median study duration was only 7 days, which is too short to reliably assess mortality outcomes.

• Effective dose range: 3000 mg/day
• Studied populations: critically ill patients, patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, HCV-related cirrhotic patients with sarcopenia awaiting liver transplantation

Caveats: Evidence base is small (only 3 studies) — conclusions should be considered preliminary. Most trials lasted only 5-7 days, far too short to assess mortality endpoints meaningfully; the one longer study (180 days) was open-label and had a very small sample (n=18 per L-carnitine group). The neutral study (2022) had a higher evidence quality score but found no effect, suggesting that benefit may not replicate across all clinical populations.