Usage And Synthesis
Indications and Usage Carnitine is a type of vitamin B, and its structure is similar to that of amino acids. It is mainly used to help transport long-chain fatty acids to provide energy and to prevent fat from collecting in the heart, liver, and skeletal muscles. Carnitine can prevent disordered fat metabolism due to diabetes, fatty liver disease and heart disease, and it can reduce heart damage, lower blood triglyceride, aid in weight loss, and increase the antioxidant effects of vitamin E and C. Meats and giblets are high in carnitine.
Artificially synthesized carnitine includes L-carnitine, D-carnitine, and DL-carnitine, and only It has physiological activities. On the other hand, D-carnitine and DL-carnitine competitively inhibit the activity of carnitine acetyltransferase (CAT) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (PTC) to prevent cells’ fat metabolism, thus harming human nutrition. L-carnitine was first discovered in 1905 by Russian chemists Gulewitsch and Krimberg in infusion broth, and its chemical structure was determined in 1927 by Tomita and Senju. L-carnitine is a white crystalline or transparent powder, and its melting point is 200℃ (decompose). It is easily soluble in water, lye, methanol and ethanol, barely soluble in acetone and acetate, and insoluble in chloroform.
L-carnitine is hygroscopic.
It can be used as an animal nutrition enhancer, and it is mainly used to enhance protein-based food additives to promote fat absorption and utilization. It also is a nutrition enhancer that is mainly used in soy-based infant foods, sports nutritional foods and weight loss foods to promote fat absorption and utilization. According to China’s regulations, the permitted amount in biscuits, drinks, and dairy beverages is 600-3000mg/kg; in solid beverages, liquids, and gel capsules, 250-600mg/kg; in formula, 300-400mg/kg; in infant foods, 70-90mg/kg (1g tartrate is equivalent to 0.68g l-carnitine). It can also be used as an appetite booster. L-carnitine affects the elimination and utilization of ketone bodies, so it can be used as a biological antioxidant to eliminate free radicals, maintain membrane stability, increase animal immunity and resistance to disease and stress.
Oral L-carnitine can increase the speed of sperm maturation and sperm vitality, it can increase the number of forward-moving sperm and motile sperm in oligospermia and asthenospermia patients, thus increasing the women’s clinical pregnancy rate, and it does so safely and effectively. It can bind with organic acids and the large amounts of acyl coenzyme derivatives produced in children with fatty acid metabolism disorder and turn them into water soluble acylcarnitine to be excreted through urine. This not only aids in controlling acute acidosis occurrences, but also effectively improves long-term prognosis.buy L-carnitine
What is L-carnitine
also known as It and vitamin BT, the chemical formula is C7H15NO3, the chemical name is (R)-3-carboxyl-2-hydroxy-n, N, n-trimethylammonium propionate hydroxide internal salt, and the representative drug is L-carnitine. It is a kind of amino acid that promotes the conversion of fat into energy. The pure product is white crystal or white transparent fine powder. It is very soluble in water, ethanol and methanol, slightly soluble in acetone, and insoluble in ether, benzene, chloroform and ethyl acetate.
L-carnitine is easy to absorb moisture, has good water solubility and water absorption, and can withstand high temperatures above 200 ℃. It has no toxic and side effects on human body. Red meat is the main source of It, which can also be synthesized by human body to meet physiological needs. It is not a real vitamin, but a substance similar to vitamins. It has many physiological functions such as fat oxidative decomposition, weight loss and anti fatigue. As a food additive, it is widely used in infant food, weight loss food, athlete food, nutritional supplements for the middle-aged and elderly, nutritional fortifiers for vegetarians and animal feed additives.
Chemical Properties
White or almost white, crystalline powder or colourless crystals, hygroscopic.
Physical properties The appearance is white lens or white transparent fine powder, with a slight special fishy smell. Very soluble in water, ethanol and methanol, slightly soluble in acetone, insoluble in ether, benzene, chloroform and ethyl acetate. It is easy to absorb moisture, and will deliquesce or even liquefy when exposed to air. It can be placed in the solution with pH value of 3 ~ 6 for more than 1 year, and can withstand the high temperature of more than 200 ℃. Its combined bond and binding group have good water solubility and water absorption. The specific rotation is – 30 ± 1 °.
acetyl l carnitine benefits Mechanisms of Action
It cannot participate in protein biosynthesis, but it promotes ketone body utilization and nitrogen generation to an extent. Its main function is to promote fatty acid beta oxidation, which occurs in the liver and the mitochondria of other tissue cells. It is known that free fatty acids and acyl coenzyme A cannot penetrate the inner mitochondrial membrane, but acylcarnitine can do so swiftly. Thus, it is determined that It is the carrier that transports fatty acid and acyl forms into the mitochondrial membrane.
The mechanisms of this transporting process are still unknown, but it is certain that carnitine acyl-CoA transferase is the key enzyme in this process. It has two isoenzymes, one of which is carnitine acyl-CoA transferase I, positioned on the outer side of the membrane. When fatty acid is catalyzed by acyl-CoA-synthatase to produce acyl-CoA, it is transported by carnitine acyl-CoA transferase I into the membrane. After it has entered the membrane, it is catalyzed by the second isoenzyme – carnitine acyl-CoA transferase II – to turned into a form of acyl-CoA that can be directly utilized by fatty acid catabolic enzymes. Afterwards, it releases energy through processes such as dehydrogenation and deoxygenation.
It can also adjust the acyl ratio in mitochondria, thus affecting energy metabolism. It can participate in the transportation of branched chain amino acid metabolites, which encourages the regular metabolism of branched chain amino acid.alcar acetyl l-carnitine
Pharmacokinetics
It is very easily soluble in water, and can be entirely absorbed by the human body when consumed through food. It is known that the small intestine absorbs It, but there is little known about the specific absorption process of carnitine (free or esterified) through intestine mucosa and about the specific absorption area. Besides external food sources of carnitine, humans can also synthesize carnitine with their own bodies. The liver and kidneys are mainly responsible for synthesizing carnitine. They progress from lysine into epsilon beta hydroxy three methyl lysine, and use aldolase and aldehyde oxidase to transform it into It. Besides lysine, the body’s biosynthesis of It also requires methionine, vitamin C, nicotinic acid and vitamin B6.carnitine l-carnitine
Melting point 197-212 °C(lit.)
alpha -31 º (c=10, H2O)
Boiling point 287.5°C (rough estimate)
density 0.64 g/cm3
refractive index -32 ° (C=1, H2O)
storage temp. Store below +30°C.
solubility H2O: 0.1 g/mL at 20 °C, clear, colorless
form Crystals or Crystalline Powder
pka 3.80(at 25℃)
color White
PH 6.5-8.5 (50g/l, H2O)
Water Solubility 2500 g/L (20 ºC)
Merck 14,1849
BRN 4292315
Stability: Hygroscopic
InChIKey PHIQHXFUZVPYII-ZCFIWIBFSA-N
LogP -5.48 at 20℃
CAS DataBase Reference 541-15-1(CAS DataBase Reference)
More Introduction:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnitine
