Direct and indirect antioxidant properties of alpha-lipoic acid and therapeutic potential

Luc Rochette (1, 2) , Stéliana Ghibu , Carole Richard (1, 2) , Marianne Zeller (1, 2) , Yves Cottin (1, 2) , Catherine Vergely (1, 2)

1 PEC2 - Physiopathologie et épidémiologie cérébro-cardiovasculaire [Dijon]
2 LPPCM - Laboratoire de Physiopathologie et Pharmacologie Cardio-Métaboliques (U866, Lipides et nutrition, équipe 5)

Diabetes has emerged as a major threat to worldwide health. The exact mechanisms underlying the disease are unknown; however, there is growing evidence that the excess generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) associated with hyperglycemia, causes oxidative stress in a variety of tissues. In this context, various natural compounds with pleiotropic actions like lipoic acid (LA) are of interest, especially in metabolic diseases such as diabetes. LA, either as a dietary supplement or a therapeutic agent, modulates redox potential because of its ability to match the redox status between different subcellular compartments as well as extracellularly. Both the oxidized (disulphide) and reduced (dithiol: dihydro-lipoic acid, DHLA) forms of LA show antioxidant properties. LA exerts antioxidant effects in biological systems through ROS quenching but also via an action on transition metal chelation. Dietary supplementation with LA has been successfully employed in a variety of in vivo models of disease associated with an imbalance of redox status: diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The complex and intimate association between increased oxidative stress and increased inflammation in related disorders such as diabetes, makes it difficult to establish the temporal sequence of the relationship.

Domaines: Cardiologie et système cardiovasculaire

Luc Rochette, Stéliana Ghibu, Carole Richard, Marianne Zeller, Yves Cottin, et al.. Direct and indirect antioxidant properties of alpha-lipoic acid and therapeutic potential. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 2013, 57 (1), pp.114-125. ⟨10.1002/mnfr.201200608⟩. ⟨hal-03434268⟩