Dictionary

carnitine en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɑɹ.nəˌtiːn/ (General-American)
• /ˈkɑː.nɪt.iːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From German Carnitin, coined from Latin carn- + Latin -i- + -t- (“arbitrary insertion”) + -in, for it was first described in meat extracts in 1905. By surface analysis, Latin carnit- + -ine.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A betaine, 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylammonio-butanoate, that is found in the liver and has a function in fatty acid transport.
   • Carnitines are quaternary amines synthesized from the amino acids lysine and methionine. 2015, Bruno Giammusso, “16: Dietary Complements and Phytotherapy”, in Giorgio Cavallini, Giovanni Beretta, editors, Clinical Management of Male Infertility, Springer, page 155:
   • 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.
   • 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. 2007, Shari Lieberman, Nancy Pauling Bruning, The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book, 4th edition, unnumbered page:

Forms

Deriveds

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

Synonyms

CAR

Translations (4)

ja カルニチン (an organic compound) · sv karnitin (an organic compound) · it carnitina (an organic compound) · eo karnitino (an organic compound)