Abstract: Objective To assess the nutritional status in maintenance hemodialysis patients treated with L-carnitine. Methods A Meta analysis was made regarding the effect of L-carnitine on the improvement of nutritional status in maintenance hemodialysis patients from 17 related reports observed in China. Results A total of 768 patients in the 17 reports were analyzed. The levels of hemoglobin, serum albumin, transferrin, pro-albumin and serum L-carnitine in the treatment (or post-treatment) group were 0.25～0.51, 0.41～0.79, 0.44～0.75, 0.13～0.75 and 1.90～4.49 times higher than their respective standard deviation of the control (or pre-treatment) group. Serum triglycerides were 0.06～0.45 times less than the standard deviation of the control group, but total cholesterol did not decreased significantly. Conclusion The nutritional status of maintenance hemodialysis patients improved after L-carnitine treatment.

Key words: Maintenance hemodialysis, Meta analysi