Oral L-carnitine supplementation lowers serum uric acid and is associated with renal and intestinal urate-handling responses in hyperuricemic mice

作者：Fengyu Jin, Yujiao Huang, Fengwei Zhang, Jing He, Jia Zheng, Minghui Jiang, Jiakang Jiao, Yinming Zhao, Jinlian Liu, Jianjun Zhang, Linyuan Wang · 发表于：Frontiers in Nutrition · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.3389/fnut.2026.1866695 · 研究领域：Gout, Hyperuricemia, Uric Acid、Diet, Metabolism, and Disease、Metabolism and Genetic Disorders

Introduction Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a common metabolic disorder associated with gout, renal dysfunction, and intestinal microenvironment disturbance. Impaired urate excretion is considered a major driver of sustained HUA. However, whether nutritional interventions are associated with renal and intestinal urate-handling-related responses remains unclear. This exploratory study investigated whether oral L-carnitine supplementation reduces serum uric acid levels and is accompanied by renal, intestinal, and microbiota-related changes. Methods Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a UA/PO-supplemented diet for 12 weeks to establish the HUA model. Mice were assigned to a control group, an untreated HUA group, and L-carnitine-treated groups. Serum uric acid and renal-related biochemical indices were measured. Renal and intestinal histology, urate transporter expression, renal signaling pathways, and gut microbiota composition were evaluated to characterize hepatic urate production-related and renal–intestinal urate-handling-related responses. Results Oral L-carnitine supplementation reduced serum uric acid levels and improved renal-related biochemical indices. It did not significantly affect hepatic XOD or ADA, indicating that the urate-lowering effect was not primarily explained by reduced hepatic urate production. In the kidney, L-carnitine restored OAT1 expression and attenuated NF-κB-related inflammatory signaling. In the intestine, it improved villus structure, increased ZO-1 and Occludin...