Douglas Labs - Acetyl-L-Carnitine 500 mg 120 Capsules
Acetyl-L-carnitine plays a key role in maintaining normal brain and nerve function during aging, as many well designed human and animal studies have shown consistently. Acetyl-L-carnitine is a naturally occurring metabolite of L carnitine, and both are present in the diet, particularly in foods of animal origin.In most tissues of the body, both L-carnitine and acetyl-L carnitine are involved in fatty acid oxidation. They arepart of the so-called carnitine shuttle. L-carnitine shuttles fatty acids from the cytosol (the cell fluid) into themitochondria (the cells powerhouses) for oxidation and energy production. The main end products of fatty acid oxidation are energy (in the form of NADH), and acetyl groups. Most of these acetyl groups are further oxidized in the mitochondrias Krebs cycle, but some are needed in the cytosol for producing other important metabolites. Acetyl-L-carnitine provides a way to carry these acetyl groups through the mitochondrialmembranes back out into the cytosol.In brain and other nerve tissues, this acetyl group export by acetyl-L-carnitine out of the mitochondria into thecytosol is important in maintaining normal levels of acetyl groups for the production of acetylcholine and otheracetylated neurotransmitters, that are so crucial for normal brain and nerve function.