Levocarnitine 1g/5ml solution for injection ampoules
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Constituent of striated muscle and liver.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Levocarnitine
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
2 branded products available
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Levocarnitine 1g/5ml solution for injection ampoules
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
2 gram
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via NHS dm+d BNF mapping files. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Levocarnitine
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
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Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
17.4 hours
Mechanism
Levocarnitine can be synthesised within the body from the amino acids lysine or methionine.
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
12 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
15%
Time to maximum plasma concentration was found to be 3.3 hours.
Half-life
17.4 hours
Protein binding
Volume of distribution
7.1L
Metabolism
3H
Elimination
16%
Clearance
4L/h
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 885 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Time to maximum plasma concentration was found to be 3.3 hours.
Post administration of oral carnitine supplements, in addition to a high carnitine diet, 58-65% of the administered radioactive dose was recovered from urine and feces in 5-11 days.
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
Contributes to the generation of reactive oxygen species. Has also low oxidase activity towards aldehydes (in vitro)
PMID:18762277 PMID:7980644 PMID:9169443 PMID:9490062
Hydrolyzes aromatic and aliphatic esters, but has no catalytic activity toward amides or a fatty acyl-CoA ester .
PMID:18762277 PMID:7980644 PMID:9169443 PMID:9490062
Hydrolyzes the methyl ester group of cocaine to form benzoylecgonine .
PMID:7980644
Catalyzes the transesterification of cocaine to form cocaethylene .
PMID:7980644
Displays fatty acid ethyl ester synthase activity, catalyzing the ethyl esterification of oleic acid to ethyloleate .
PMID:7980644
Converts monoacylglycerides to free fatty acids and glycerol. Hydrolyzes of 2-arachidonoylglycerol and prostaglandins .
PMID:21049984
Hydrolyzes cellular cholesteryl esters to free cholesterols and promotes reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) by facilitating both the initial and final steps in the process .
PMID:11015575 PMID:16024911 PMID:16971496 PMID:18762277
First of all, allows free cholesterol efflux from macrophages to extracellular cholesterol acceptors and secondly, releases free cholesterol from lipoprotein-delivered cholesteryl esters in the liver for bile acid synthesis or direct secretion into the bile PMID:16971496 PMID:18599737 PMID:18762277
PMID:9922160
Mediates the proteolytic cleavage of alpha-1-microglobulin to form t-alpha-1-microglobulin, which potently inhibits oxidation of low-density lipoprotein particles and limits vascular damage PMID:25698971
PMID:11350182 PMID:14517221 PMID:16651524 PMID:9691089
Also possesses a lysine succinyltransferase activity that can regulate enzymatic activity of substrate proteins such as ENO1 and metabolism independent of its classical carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase activity .
PMID:29425493
Plays an important role in hepatic triglyceride metabolism (By similarity). Also plays a role in inducible regulatory T-cell (iTreg) differentiation once activated by butyryl-CoA that antagonizes malonyl-CoA-mediated CPT1A repression (By similarity). Sustains the IFN-I response by recruiting ZDHCC4 to palmitoylate MAVS at the mitochondria leading to MAVS stabilization and activation .
PMID:38016475
Promotes ROS-induced oxidative stress in liver injury via modulation of NFE2L2 and NLRP3-mediated signaling pathways (By similarity)
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:10215651 PMID:15107849 PMID:15795384 PMID:16729965 PMID:20601551 PMID:22206629 PMID:22569296 PMID:29530864
Functions as a Na(+)-dependent and pH-dependent high affinity microbial symporter of potent food-derived antioxidant ergothioeine .
PMID:15795384 PMID:29530864 PMID:33124720
Transports one sodium ion with one ergothioeine molecule (By similarity). Involved in the absorption of ergothioneine from the luminal/apical side of the small intestine and renal tubular cells, and into non-parenchymal liver cells, thereby contributing to maintain steady-state ergothioneine level in the body .
PMID:20601551
Also mediates the bidirectional transport of acetycholine, although the exact transport mechanism has not been fully identified yet .
PMID:22206629
Most likely exports anti-inflammatory acetylcholine in non-neuronal tissues, thereby contributing to the non-neuronal cholinergic system .
PMID:22206629 PMID:22569296
Displays a general physiological role linked to better survival by controlling inflammation and oxidative stress, which may be related to ergothioneine and acetycholine transports .
PMID:15795384 PMID:22206629
May also function as a low-affinity Na(+)-dependent transporter of L-carnitine through the mitochondrial membrane, thereby maintaining intracellular carnitine homeostasis .
PMID:10215651 PMID:15107849 PMID:16729965
May contribute to regulate the transport of cationic compounds in testis across the blood-testis-barrier PMID:35307651
PMID:10358072 PMID:15159445 PMID:17412826
Shows broad substrate specificity, can transport both organic anions such as bile acid taurocholate (cholyltaurine) and conjugated steroids (dehydroepiandrosterone 3-sulfate, 17-beta-glucuronosyl estradiol, and estrone 3-sulfate), as well as eicosanoids (prostaglandin E2, thromboxane B2, leukotriene C4, and leukotriene E4), and thyroid hormones (T4/L-thyroxine, and T3/3,3',5'-triiodo-L-thyronine) .
PMID:10358072 PMID:10601278 PMID:10873595 PMID:11159893 PMID:12196548 PMID:12568656 PMID:15159445 PMID:15970799 PMID:16627748 PMID:17412826 PMID:19129463 PMID:26979622
Can take up bilirubin glucuronides from plasma into the liver, contributing to the detoxification-enhancing liver-blood shuttling loop .
PMID:22232210
Involved in the clearance of endogenous and exogenous substrates from the liver .
PMID:10358072 PMID:10601278
Transports coproporphyrin I and III, by-products of heme synthesis, and may be involved in their hepatic disposition .
PMID:26383540
May contribute to regulate the transport of organic compounds in testes across the blood-testis-barrier (Probable). Can transport HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (also known as statins), such as pravastatin and pitavastatin, a clinically important class of hypolipidemic drugs .
PMID:10601278 PMID:15159445 PMID:15970799
May play an important role in plasma and tissue distribution of the structurally diverse chemotherapeutic drug methotrexate .
PMID:23243220
May also transport antihypertension agents, such as the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor prodrug enalapril, and the highly selective angiotensin II AT1-receptor antagonist valsartan, in the liver .
PMID:16624871 PMID:16627748
Shows a pH-sensitive substrate specificity towards prostaglandin E2 and T4 which may be ascribed to the protonation state of the binding site and leads to a stimulation of substrate transport in an acidic microenvironment .
PMID:19129463
Hydrogencarbonate/HCO3(-) acts as the probable counteranion that exchanges for organic anions PMID:19129463
PMID:10454528 PMID:10525100 PMID:10966938 PMID:17509700 PMID:20722056 PMID:33124720
Also transports organic cations such as tetraethylammonium (TEA) without the involvement of sodium.
Relative uptake activity ratio of carnitine to TEA is 11.3 .
PMID:10454528 PMID:10525100 PMID:10966938
In intestinal epithelia, transports the quorum-sensing pentapeptide CSF (competence and sporulation factor) from B.subtilis which induces cytoprotective heat shock proteins contributing to intestinal homeostasis .
PMID:18005709
May also contribute to regulate the transport of organic compounds in testis across the blood-testis-barrier (Probable)
PMID:12089149 PMID:20037140
Mediates the partially Na(+)-dependent bidirectional transport of carnitine .
PMID:12089149
May mediate L-carnitine secretion from testis epididymal epithelium into the lumen which is involved in the maturation of spermatozoa PMID:12089149
PMID:14586168 PMID:15644426 PMID:15846473 PMID:16455804 PMID:31553721
Transports organic anions such as estrone 3-sulfate (E1S) and urate in exchange for dicarboxylates such as glutarate or ketoglutarate (2-oxoglutarate) .
PMID:14586168 PMID:15846473 PMID:15864504 PMID:22108572 PMID:23832370
Plays an important role in the excretion of endogenous and exogenous organic anions, especially from the kidney and the brain .
PMID:11306713 PMID:14586168 PMID:15846473
E1S transport is pH- and chloride-dependent and may also involve E1S/cGMP exchange .
PMID:26377792
Responsible for the transport of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2(alpha) (PGF2(alpha)) in the basolateral side of the renal tubule .
PMID:11907186
Involved in the transport of neuroactive tryptophan metabolites kynurenate and xanthurenate .
PMID:22108572 PMID:23832370
Functions as a biopterin transporters involved in the uptake and the secretion of coenzymes tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), dihydrobiopterin (BH2) and sepiapterin to urine, thereby determining baseline levels of blood biopterins .
PMID:28534121
May be involved in the basolateral transport of steviol, a metabolite of the popular sugar substitute stevioside .
PMID:15644426
May participate in the detoxification/ renal excretion of drugs and xenobiotics, such as the histamine H(2)-receptor antagonists fexofenadine and cimetidine, the antibiotic benzylpenicillin (PCG), the anionic herbicide 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetate (2,4-D), the diagnostic agent p-aminohippurate (PAH), the antiviral acyclovir (ACV), and the mycotoxin ochratoxin (OTA), by transporting these exogenous organic anions across the cell membrane in exchange for dicarboxylates such as 2-oxoglutarate .
PMID:11669456 PMID:15846473 PMID:16455804
Contributes to the renal uptake of potent uremic toxins (indoxyl sulfate (IS), indole acetate (IA), hippurate/N-benzoylglycine (HA) and 3-carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropionate (CMPF)), pravastatin, PCG, E1S and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and is partly involved in the renal uptake of temocaprilat (an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor) .
PMID:14675047
May contribute to the release of cortisol in the adrenals .
PMID:15864504
Involved in one of the detoxification systems on the choroid plexus (CP), removes substrates such as E1S or taurocholate (TC), PCG, 2,4-D and PAH, from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to the blood for eventual excretion in urine and bile (By similarity). Also contributes to the uptake of several other organic compounds such as the prostanoids prostaglandin E(2) and prostaglandin F(2-alpha), L-carnitine, and the therapeutic drugs allopurinol, 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (By similarity). Mediates the transport of PAH, PCG, and the statins pravastatin and pitavastatin, from the cerebrum into the blood circulation across the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
In summary, plays a role in the efflux of drugs and xenobiotics, helping reduce their undesired toxicological effects on the body (By similarity)
Involved compounds
Involved compounds
Involved compounds
ATC A16AA01
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Levocarnitine
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
233
ChemSpider
10455
BindingDB
50037268
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2329
GeneCards
CPT1B
UniProt Accession
CPT1B_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12805
GenAtlas
XDH
GeneCards
XDH
GenBank Gene Database
D11456
GenBank Protein Database
10336525
Guide to Pharmacology
2646
UniProt Accession
XDH_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:1863
GenAtlas
CES1
GeneCards
CES1
GenBank Gene Database
M73499
Guide to Pharmacology
2592
UniProt Accession
EST1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:7218
GenAtlas
MPO
GeneCards
MPO
GenBank Gene Database
J02694
GenBank Protein Database
189040
Guide to Pharmacology
2789
UniProt Accession
PERM_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2328
GenAtlas
CPT1A
GeneCards
CPT1A
GenBank Gene Database
L39211
GenBank Protein Database
755646
UniProt Accession
CPT1A_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10968
GenAtlas
SLC22A4
GeneCards
SLC22A4
GenBank Gene Database
AB007448
GenBank Protein Database
2605501
UniProt Accession
S22A4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10969
GenAtlas
SLC22A5
GeneCards
SLC22A5
GenBank Gene Database
AF057164
GenBank Protein Database
3273741
UniProt Accession
S22A5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2342
GenAtlas
CRAT
GeneCards
CRAT
GenBank Gene Database
X78706
GenBank Protein Database
927415
UniProt Accession
CACP_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:20116
GenAtlas
SLC25A29
GeneCards
SLC25A29
GenBank Gene Database
BX247983
GenBank Protein Database
28193150
UniProt Accession
S2529_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:1421
GenAtlas
SLC25A20
GeneCards
SLC25A20
GenBank Gene Database
Y10319
GenBank Protein Database
2765075
UniProt Accession
MCAT_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2366
GenAtlas
CROT
GeneCards
CROT
GenBank Gene Database
AF168793
GenBank Protein Database
6066280
UniProt Accession
OCTC_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2330
GenAtlas
CPT2
GeneCards
CPT2
GenBank Gene Database
U09648
GenBank Protein Database
1041195
UniProt Accession
CPT2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10968
GenAtlas
SLC22A4
GeneCards
SLC22A4
GenBank Gene Database
AB007448
GenBank Protein Database
2605501
UniProt Accession
S22A4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10959
GenAtlas
SLCO1B1
GeneCards
SLCO1B1
GenBank Gene Database
AF060500
GenBank Protein Database
5051630
Guide to Pharmacology
1220
UniProt Accession
SO1B1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10969
GenAtlas
SLC22A5
GeneCards
SLC22A5
GenBank Gene Database
AF057164
GenBank Protein Database
3273741
UniProt Accession
S22A5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:20302
GeneCards
SLC22A16
GenBank Gene Database
AY145502
GenBank Protein Database
24429900
UniProt Accession
S22AG_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10972
GeneCards
SLC22A8
GenBank Gene Database
AF097491
GenBank Protein Database
4378059
Guide to Pharmacology
1027
UniProt Accession
S22A8_HUMAN
International reference pricing
Reference pricing from DrugBank. Prices are indicative and may not reflect current UK costs.
Source: DrugBank. Used under CC BY-NC 4.0 academic licence for non-commercial purposes.
Patent information
All patents expired, 3 expired
Source: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0. Patent data sourced from national patent offices. Expiry dates may not reflect extensions, regulatory exclusivity periods, or legal challenges.
DrugBank citations
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