l-Carnitine: a new insight into the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer

Dagistan Tolga Arioz, Mine Kanat-Pektas, Nadire Tuncer, Tulay Koken, Bekir Serdar Unlu, Gulengul Koken, Mehmet Yilmazer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aims to specify the role of l-carnitine in the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer by comparing the serum total l-carnitine levels of endometrial cancer patients with those of healthy women.Methods: Serum total l-carnitine concentrations were measured in patients with endometrioid-type endometrial cancer (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20) who were matched with respect to age and body mass index (BMI).Results: Stage I endometrial cancer was diagnosed in 12 women (60.0 %) whereas three women (15.0 %) had stage II disease, three women (15.0 %) had stage III disease and two women (10.0 %) had stage IV disease. The healthy controls and endometrial cancer patients were statistically similar in aspect of age, gravidity, parity, BMI, waist-to-thigh ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, menopause, complete blood count parameters, and serum biochemistry. Serum total l-carnitine levels of women with endometrial cancer were significantly lower than those of healthy women (respectively, 5,519.4 ± 2,712.5 vs 7,940.8 ± 3,566.6 ng/dl, p = 0.021). Moreover, serum total l-carnitine levels decreased significantly and progressively with advancing stage (stage I vs II vs III vs IV; 6,294.0 ± 2,885.1 vs 5,800.0 ± 441.2 vs 4,016.0 ± 2,833.3 vs 2,560.0 ± 67.9 ng/dl; p = 0.021).Conclusions: This is the first study to hypothesize that l-carnitine deficiency participates in the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer by means of a mechanism which is unrelated with obesity and increased amount of fat in human body.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1147-1152
Number of pages6
JournalArchives of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Volume291
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Carcinogenesis
  • Endometrial cancer
  • l-Carnitine

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology

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