Perspectives on the use of lipoic acid in the support of disease treatment*

Abstract

Lipoic acid (LA) is a natural compound present in food and used as a dietary supplement. LA is endogenously synthetized in small amounts from octanoid acid in the mitochondria. This compound occurs naturally in vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and in animal tissues, in the kidneys, heart and liver. It has been shown that LA is a cofactor in the multienzyme complexes that are responsible for oxidative decarboxylation of α- ketoacids. LA and its reduced form, dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), have many biological functions leading to a wide variety of actions such as anti-inflammation and antioxidant protection, scavenging of reactive oxygen species, regenerating other antioxidant agents, such as vitamins C and E, and cytosolic glutathione, chelating the transitional metal ions (e.g. iron and copper), and modulating the signal transduction of nuclear factor. Many authors regard LA as a potentially useful agent in the treatment and/or prevention of many diseases such as diabetes mellitus, overweight, obesity, hypertension, heart diseases, inflammation. This review concentrates on the role of LA in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, obesity, inflammation and blood pressure regulation. LA can be considered as a potentially useful drug in treatment of many diseases, particularly those related to excessive production of free radicals.