Effects of Intravenously Administered L-Acetylcarnitine on Somatosensory-Evoked Potentials

Abstract

The acute effects of intravenously administered L-acetylcarnitine (L-AC) were evaluated in 5 healthy and 20 diseased volunteers (17 vascular, 3 tumoral cerebral lesions). Short-latency scalp somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) to simultaneous median, and separate unilateral peroneal nerve stimulation were carried out before and after L-AC administration (at 10-, 30- and 60-min intervals). L-AC did not influence peak and interpeak latencies; however, in a percentage of healthy and diseased volunteers a clear-cut amplitude increase was evident affecting all those peaks generated between the thalamus and the cortex.While in normal and tumoral volunteers the voltage increase was bilaterally balanced, the amplitude increments were more evident on the ‘affected’ hemisphere in vascular patients, partially reversing the abnormal amplitude ratios between homologous peaks on ‘healthy’ and ‘affected’ hemispheres. In no case were transient clinical changes, either of an objective or subjective nature, associated with SEP amplitude changes; these were still present at the 60th minute, having reached their nadir at the 30th minute in ‘responders’.

Effects of psychotropic drugs on somatosensory evoked potentials in cerebral ischemia

“…importance of a measurement in vivo of the concentration of the muscarinic receptors, which are reduced in several clinical conditions like Alzheimer disease or Huntington disease is obvious. Rossini, Di Stefano et al [12] reported an increase in voltage of cortical SEPs following intravenous administrations of L-AC; the effect was evident 30' minute after drug administration, mostly on the affected hemisphere. SEP changes following thalamic and cortical lesions have been demonstrated in several studies.…”