carnitine

English

Carnitine structure diagram

Etymology

From Latin caro/carnis (“flesh, meat”) +‎ t +‎ -ine, for it was first described in meat extracts in 1905.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑː.nɪt.iːn/

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɹ.nəˌtiːn/

Noun

carnitine (countable and uncountable, plural carnitines)

1. (organic chemistry) A betaine, 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylammonio-butanoate, that is found in the liver and has a function in fatty acid transport.
   • 2007, Shari Lieberman, Nancy Pauling Bruning, The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book, 4th Edition, unnnumbered page,

     Although often called an amino acid because of its chemical makeup, L-carnitine is actually a vitaminlike nutrient, related in structure to the B vitamins. L-carnitine is the biologically active form of carnitine.

   • 2014, Peggy R. Borum, Carnitine homeostasis in humans, Benjamin Toby Wall, Craig Porter (editors), Carnitine Metabolism and Human Nutrition, page 4,

     Carnitine likely functions in maintaining homeostasis in many metabolic pathways and physiological conditions, with carnitine's role in energy metabolism homeostasis being the best studied.

   • 2015, Bruno Giammusso, “16: Dietary Complements and Phytotherapy”, in Giorgio Cavallini, Giovanni Beretta, editors, Clinical Management of Male Infertility, Springer, page 155:

     Carnitines are quaternary amines synthesized from the amino acids lysine and methionine.

Synonyms

• CAR (abbreviation)

Derived terms

• acetylcarnitine
• acylcarnitine
• CAR
• carnityl
• D-carnitine
• deoxycarnitine
• dextrocarnitine
• DL-carnitine
• L-carnitine
• levocarnitine
• octanoylcarnitine
• palmitoylcarnitine

 

Translations

an organic compound

• Esperanto: karnitino
• Italian: carnitina (it) f
• Japanese: カルニチン (karunichin)

Anagrams

• creatinin, incertain, natricine

Italian

Noun

carnitine f

1. plural of carnitina

Anagrams

• canterini, incarnite, incentrai, incitarne, incretina, incrinate, nericanti