Peripheral arteriopathy in the rat: effect of levocarnitine propil treatment studied by phosphorus-31 NMR spectroscopy

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a common human pathological condition associated to a reduced motor performance and impairment in the muscle energy metabolism. Patients affected by PVD showed an alteration in camitine homeostasis, and it has been also reported that carnitine administration in these patients induces a marked improvement in walking capacity (1). In the present study we applied 3 lp nmr spectroscopy in order to a) characterize the biochemical changes occurring in muscular tissue, following to an experimental model of peripheral vascular insufficiency in the rat. b) to evaluate the effectiveness of levocarnitine propil (Propionil-1-camitine ; PLC) a naturally occurring derivative of carnitine to counteract the damage in the muscle energy metabolism.