The therapeutic prospects of using L-carnitine to manage hypertension-related organ damage.

Subclinical organ damage is a very important aspect when assessing total cardiovascular risk in hypertensive subjects. Therapeutic strategies in those patients should consider treatment of hypertension-related cardiovascular and renal damage in addition to achieving the recommended blood pressure targets. l-carnitine (LC) is a naturally occurring compound that is administered exogenously for treatment of patients that are deficient in carnitine. The currently available data do not support a preferential role of LC as an antihypertensive agent compared to other available drugs. However, its ability to simultaneously modulate several targets and/or pathways provides antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These additional properties might justify the therapeutic use of LC as a protective agent against cardiovascular and renal remodelling in arterial hypertension. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.