Carnitine

Quick meaning: Carnitine is a noun meaning (organic chemistry) A betaine, 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylammonio-butanoate, that is found in the liver and has a function in fatty acid transport.

Meaning

(organic chemistry) A betaine, 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylammonio-butanoate, that is found in the liver and has a function in fatty acid transport.

Example Sentences

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

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.

Word Forms

• carnitines

Synonyms for carnitine

Depending on context, synonyms include CAR.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include propionyl, cartinine, methylbutyrylcarnitine, palmitoylcarnitine, acylcarnitine, carnityl.

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