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Carnitine Supplementation Fails to Maximize Fat Mass Loss Induced by Endurance Training in Rats

2004; Karger Publishers; Volume: 48; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1159/000077043

1421-9697

Marcelo Saldanha Aoki, André Luís Rodriguez Amaral Almeida, Francisco Navarro, Luís Fernando Bicudo Pereira Costa-Rosa, Reury Frank Pereira Bacurau,

Pharmacology and Obesity Treatment

<i>Background/Aims:</i> Carnitine is a co-factor of the enzymatic system involved in long chain fatty acid transport across the mitochondrial membrane. This physiological role of carnitine raised the hypothesis that this compound could act as a ‘fat burner’ by optimizing fat oxidation and consequently reducing its availability for storage. Our aim was to verify whether carnitine supplementation could maximize fat mass loss in trained rats. <i>Methods:</i> Male Wistar rats (200 g) were divided into four groups: control (C), sedentary supplemented (S), trained (T) and trained supplemented (TS). The training protocol consisted of bouts of swimming exercise (60 min·day^–1) for 6 weeks. During the last 14 days, before sacrifice, the supplemented groups received a daily dose of 28 mg· kg^–1 of <i>L</i>-carnitine. Carcass fat content, weight and fat content of adipose tissues were evaluated in all experimental groups. <i>Results:</i> Our results indicate that carnitine feeding, per se, failed to promote fat mass loss. Endurance training successfully induced a decrease in the fat content in the carcass (28%) and the weight of adipose tissues (retroperitoneal and mesenteric depots by 41 and 20%, respectively) in comparison to C. Despite the augmented carnitine content in the soleus mitochondria (2-fold) observed in TS, the higher content did not maximize the fat loss induced by endurance training. <i>Conclusions:</i> Our data strongly suggest that endurance training, rather than carnitine content, is the major factor involved in fat mass loss.