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Alpha Lipoic acid

Alpha Lipoid acid (ALA) is an anti-oxidant that is manufactured in the body and can be derived from a variety of dietary sources. Potent sources of alpha lipoic acid include spinach, broccoli, yeast, and some organ meats such as heart and liver.

Alpha lipoic acid works with other antioxidants such as vitamin E and vitamin C to resist the damaging oxidation that freed radicals can cause (Packer et. al, 2001). Free radicals are introduced to the body from ultraviolet rays, certain types of radiation, cigarette smoke, car exhaust, pesticides, or just as waste products of metabolism. Their presence in the body leads to harmful reactions that cause cell damage, infection, and even some serious diseases. Scavenging for radicals and preventing damage is essential in leading a longer, healthier life. Alpha lipoic acid can provide some of the support needed to resist many common life-threatening ailments.

The structure of alpha lipoic acid provides insight into the aggressive activity of this amazing compound. It is classified as a redox-active compound, capable of maintaining a healthy redox cellular state (Packer et. al, 1995). Lipoic acid exists as both the R and S enantiomer. It also can be present in it oxidized and reduced forms. Alpha lipoic acid (figure 1) can scavenge hydroxyl radicals, hypchlorous acid, peroxynitrite, and singlet oxygen. Reduce lipoic acid or dihydrolipoic acid (figure 2) can also scavenge superoxide and peroxyl radicals. It can also regenerate thioredoxin, vitamin C, and glutathione, which leads to the regeneration of vitamin E. The structure of lipoic acid also makes it an essential element in aerobic metabolism. Lipoic acid is an important cofactor of several enzyme complexes needed to provide energy for the body (Perham R et. al, 2000).

The oxidized and reduced forms of lipoic acid make it a very versatile and useful molecule. Liver health, heart health, neural function, insulin sensitivity, diabetes, HIV, cataracts, and glaucoma are just a few of the areas that lipoic acid is thought to benefit. A collaborative study between the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and a medical center in Russia found that ALA regularly administered to diabetic subjects reduces the frequency and severity of diabetic neuropathy. Researchers found that ALA improves nerve function caused by chronic hyperglycemia, a very common ailment found in diabetics. Improving or eliminating diabetic neuropathy would improve most sufferers' quality of life significantly (Mayo clinic Research).

In another study at the Linus Pauling Institute, it was found that ALA benefits the aged heart. ALA significantly attenuated oxidative stress, and reduced oxidative damage of DNA. It was determined that supplementation with ALA reverses the oxidative stress on the aging heart (Jung H, 2001). ALA has also been reported to inhibit HIV expression, by blocking nuclear factor-kappaB ( Merin J, 1996). Countless other studies have been performed to reveal the seemingly endless uses of alpha-lipoic acid. Each study seems to confirm ALA's efficacy as a potent and innovative health supplement.

References

Alexander S. Ametov, Alexei Barinov, Peter J. Dyck, Robert Hermann, Natalia Kozlova, William J. Litchy, Phillip A. Low, Detlef Nehrdich, Maria Novosadova, Peter C. O'Brien, Miroslav Reljanovic, Rustem Samigullin, Klemens Schuette, Igor Strokov, Hans J. Tritschler, Klaus Wessel, Nikolai Yakhno, and Dan Ziegler. (2003). The symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathy are improve with alpha lipoic acid: The Sydney Trial. Diabetes Care. 26(3): 770-776.

Merin J, Matsuyama M, Kira T, Baba M, Okatamoto T. Alpha lipoic acid blocks HIV-1 LTR-dependent expression of hygromysin resistance in THP-1 stable transformants. FEBS Lett. 394(1):9-13.

Packer L, Witt E, Tritschler. (1995). Alpha-Lipoic acid as a biological antioxidant. Free Radical Biol Med. 19(2): 227-50.

Packer L, Kreamer K, Rimbach G. (2001). Molecular Aspecst of Lipoic Acid in the Prevention of Diabetes Complications. Nutrition. 17:888-895.

Perham RN. (2000). Swinging arms and swinging domains in multifunctional enzymes: catalytic machines for multistep reactions. Annu Rev Biochem. 69:961-1004.

Shuh H, Shigeno E, Morrow J, Cox B, Rocha A, Frei B, Hagen T. (2001). Oxidative stress in the aging rat heart is reversed by dietary supplementation with (R)- -lipoic acid. The FASEB Journal. 15:700-706.)

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