Talk:Carnitine

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WikiProject Pharmacology (Rated start-Class) Carnitine is part of WikiProject Pharmacology, a project to improve all Pharmacology-related articles. If you would like to help improve this and other pharmacology articles, please join the project. All interested editors are welcome. Start This article has been rated as start-Class on the quality scale. High This article has been rated as high-importance for this Project's importance scale. WikiProject Chemicals (Rated B-Class) Chemistry Portal Carnitine is within the scope of WikiProject Chemicals, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of chemicals. To participate, help improve this article or visit the project page for details on the project. This article is also supported by WikiProject Chemistry. B This article has been rated as B-Class on the quality scale. Low This article has been rated as low-importance on the importance scale. Article Grading: The following comments were left by the quality and importance raters: (edit · refresh) This protein metabolite is of commercial importance for being widely distributed in pills with claims that may be falsifiable or be at a competitive disadvantage. A natural source or a key to internal synthesis would put it at such a disadvantage. Brewhaha@edmc.net 12:23, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] External links

I changed the "FAQ" to another page on the same site that had the same content seemed less about selling the stuff; the old link seemed too much like an ad. I also changed the "Molecule of the Month" to link to the page about carnitine rather than to the index. ajchapman 01:33, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What's this stereoisomer for?

I don't see why you need a seperate page for a stereoisomer of a chemical that already has a complete article...I guess a footnote explaining its natural occurrance and an explanation as to why the Levo form is the biologically active form of Carnitine but it shouldn't need a separate article.

L-carnitine is the primary type of carnitine that is used biologically. Although d-carnitine has been used in some studies, the differentiation of carnitine into l-carnitine and d-carnitine is unnecessary. Maybe the difference can be mentioned in the main carnitine page.

The above is incorrect. The d- isomer is not bio-active, whereas the l- isomer is the bio-active version. In fact, it is believed the d- isomer will compete with the l- and can cause deficiency. As folks take this as a supplement, it is important to steer people away from the d- and l- supplements. These are junk, and possibly harmful. The Linus Pauling Institute has useful information on their website.

The dextro-rotary isomer, like the d- amino acids is for experimental and drug use only. Biology does use them, but it's very rare in nature. One reason I can see for using it is in exploring pathogens or metabolic pathways that you don't want to escape into the real world. Another reason would be to enable you to measure the amount of real-world contamination of your experiment -- isolation and error estimation. Brewhaha@edmc.net 12:13, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Carnitine Status in Canada

"L-Carnitine products and supplements are not allowed to be imported into Canada (Health Canada)"

I just drank a bottle of NOS (energy drink) which I purchased in Canada. The bottle says it contains 550mg of L-Carnitine, therefore this sentence seems incorrect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.144.252.18 (talk) 21:39, 13 April 2008 (UTC)