L-Carnitine treatment and fish odor syndrome: An unwaited adverse effect

Introduction. - Levocarnitine treatment is usually well tolerated, with essentially dose-dependent diarrhea as the main induced adverse effect. Case report. - We report a case of fish odor syndrome during levocarnitine treatment which resolved after levocarnitine discontinuation. Conclusion. - This adverse effect seems to be correlated with excedent carnitine intake and might be expressed when the elimination pathway becomes saturated or in a situation of deficiency enzymatic metabolism. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.