During the virtual EASD meeting, Yvonne Bruls presented her work on carnitine supplementation in type 2 diabetes patients. The key messages of this presentation were that:
- Three months carnitine supplementation (2970 mg/day) increased plasma free carnitine availability in type 2 diabetes patients
- Carnitine supplementation increased resting skeletal muscle acetylcarnitine concentrations and the capacity to form acetylcarnitine with exercise, probably reflecting elevated free carnitine availability in muscle tissue
- A pronounced increase in peripheral insulin sensitivity was shown with changed non-oxidative glucose disposal (NOGD) underlying the improvement
- Hepatic insulin sensitivity improved while intrahepatic lipid content tended to decrease after supplementation with carnitine
- Fasting plasma glucose levels tended to reduce, indicating better glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes patient after carnitine supplementation