About the Authors

Sheyu Li

Contributed equally to this work with: Sheyu Li, Qianrui Li

Affiliation Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Qianrui Li

Contributed equally to this work with: Sheyu Li, Qianrui Li

Affiliation Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Yun Li

Affiliation Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Ling Li

Affiliation Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Haoming Tian

hmtian999@126.com (HT); sunx79@hotmail.com (XS)

Affiliation Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Xin Sun

hmtian999@126.com (HT); sunx79@hotmail.com (XS)

Affiliation Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

Competing Interests

Dr. Haoming Tian had worked as principal investigator of the phase III clinical trial of acetyl-L-carnitine tablet produced by Haisco Pharmaceutical China, which had however no relationship with the current meta-analysis. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SL QL HT XS. Performed the experiments: SL QL YL. Analyzed the data: SL QL LL. Wrote the paper: SL QL.