Supplement Acetyl-L-Carnitine May Treat Stress and Depression
N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant sold in health food stores, has several beneficial effects on brain and behavior. It improves depression and can reduce cravings for cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine, and can also help control habit-driven behaviors such as gambling, compulsive hair-pulling, and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
New research, particularly by researcher Nascaa and colleagues in 2014 and 2016, has identified a related compound, acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC), as an anti-stressor and antidepressant in animals, and researchers have begun to explore its use in people. ALC has been found to improve mitochondrial function and improve recovery from peripheral nerve damage. ALC also inhibits the release of glutamate, which can prevent depressive behaviors following stress.
A 2004 study by P. Ruggenenti and colleagues in the journal Hypertension found that in people, 1 gm of ALC taken twice daily safely improved arterial hypertension, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, and low levels of adiponectin in the blood (a risk factor for diabetes) in subjects at increased cardiovascular risk.
In a 2014 article in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, researcher S.M. Wang and colleagues reviewed evidence that ALC improves mild depression. Two randomized clinical trials indicated that ALC was more effective than placebo for mild depression. Two other randomized clinical trials showed that ALC was as effective as the antidepressants fluoxetine and amisulpride for mild depression. The supplement was as tolerable as placebo and better tolerated than fluoxetine and amisulpride. Wang and colleagues suggested that more clinical trials are needed to confirm that ALC is effective in depression.
Editor’s Note: If further clinical trials confirm the antidepressant effects of ALC, it could represent a new way to treat chronic stress and depression and regulate insulin. Together these effects could reduce the cardiovascular risks that accompany depression.
