Effect of acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of painful peripheral neuropathies in HIV+ patients

Elio Scarpini; Giorgio Sacilotto; Pierluigi Baron; Marco Cusini; Guglielmo Scarlato

Effect of acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of painful peripheral neuropathies in HIV+ patients

Elio Scarpini, Giorgio Sacilotto, Pierluigi Baron, Marco Cusini, Guglielmo Scarlato

Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda- Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We studied the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine on pain in 16 HIV+ patients affected by painful distal symmetrical neuropathy. Patients were treated with 0.5-1 gr per day of acetyl-L-carnitine either i.m. or i.v. for 3 weeks. Pain intensity was measured before and after the treatment by the Huskisson's analogic scale. Ten patients (62.5%) reported an improvement of symptoms, five patients (31.25%) were unchanged, one patient worsened. The results of this open study show that acetyl-L-carnitine can have a role in the treatment of pain in distal symmetrical polyneuropathy related to HIV infection. However, further double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	250-252
Number of pages	3
Journal	Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System
Volume	2
Issue number	3
Publication status	Published - 1997

Keywords

Acetyl-L-carnitine
AIDS
Chronic pain
HIV+ neuropathy
Painful distal symmetrical polyneuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy
Therapy of peripheral neuropathies

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Clinical Neurology
Neuroscience(all)

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title = "Effect of acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of painful peripheral neuropathies in HIV+ patients",

abstract = "We studied the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine on pain in 16 HIV+ patients affected by painful distal symmetrical neuropathy. Patients were treated with 0.5-1 gr per day of acetyl-L-carnitine either i.m. or i.v. for 3 weeks. Pain intensity was measured before and after the treatment by the Huskisson's analogic scale. Ten patients (62.5%) reported an improvement of symptoms, five patients (31.25%) were unchanged, one patient worsened. The results of this open study show that acetyl-L-carnitine can have a role in the treatment of pain in distal symmetrical polyneuropathy related to HIV infection. However, further double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results.",

keywords = "Acetyl-L-carnitine, AIDS, Chronic pain, HIV+ neuropathy, Painful distal symmetrical polyneuropathy, Peripheral neuropathy, Therapy of peripheral neuropathies",

author = "Elio Scarpini and Giorgio Sacilotto and Pierluigi Baron and Marco Cusini and Guglielmo Scarlato",

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AU - Scarpini, Elio

AU - Sacilotto, Giorgio

AU - Baron, Pierluigi

AU - Cusini, Marco

AU - Scarlato, Guglielmo

PY - 1997

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N2 - We studied the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine on pain in 16 HIV+ patients affected by painful distal symmetrical neuropathy. Patients were treated with 0.5-1 gr per day of acetyl-L-carnitine either i.m. or i.v. for 3 weeks. Pain intensity was measured before and after the treatment by the Huskisson's analogic scale. Ten patients (62.5%) reported an improvement of symptoms, five patients (31.25%) were unchanged, one patient worsened. The results of this open study show that acetyl-L-carnitine can have a role in the treatment of pain in distal symmetrical polyneuropathy related to HIV infection. However, further double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results.

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