Last updated: 24 April 2020 22:00EST by Frank Cusimano
Summary
A recent paper showed that patients treated with Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA) who had the coronavirus were less likely to die. Unfortunately, this study was flawed and while ALA may help, the clinical-trail results were misleading. There was a big difference between the control and the experimental group before the study ever started or before supplementation was given. Results were likely from the differences in the patients and not from ALA supplementation.
Background
In the beginning of February, a paper came out discussing potential nutraceuticals that could play a role in the treatment of COVID-19. Alpha-lipoic acid was one of them . Previous mechanistic research, clinical trials, and even meta-analyses have shown high amounts of alpha-lipoic acid supplementation may decrease the inflammatory response .
3 days ago, a paper was published as a preprint (not peer-reviewed) where doctors from Wuhan, China used alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) for critically ill patients who had COVID-19 . The claims were promising, but the research, not so much. When looking at the article, there were several flaws. For one, the paper only looked at 17 patients. Nine in the control group and 8 in the experimental group. Before the start of the experiment, there were already differences between the two groups of patients; of the 9 control patients, 6 of them were intubated on ventilators. With the experimental group, only 3 of the patients were intubated. In the final results, they looked at survival. In the control group, 2 of the 9 survived. In the experimental group, 5 of the 8 survived. While that looks promising, remember that patients on a ventilator have a 88% chance of mortality. The only identifiable difference at the end of the experiment can be accounted for by their baseline ventilation status, not from ALA supplementation.
Science
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is a sulfur containing antioxidant that scavenges free radicals and increases tissue levels of glutathione . It helps activate the endogenous antioxidant system and affects intracellular signal transduction suppressing NF-kb in the inflammatory process. In previous meta-analyses, ALA has been shown to decrease CRP, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 in patients .
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Disclaimer: Opinions on this site or on social media do not reflect that of my institutions. I do not provide medical advice. If you have a medical question please see your doctor or if you have a medical emergency, please go to the nearest emergency room.. I have a PhD in Nutrition and Metabolic Biology and three masters degrees including two master’s in nutrition & metabolism. I am a personal trainer & have researched nutrition for 12 years. The info I post is my interpretation of the medical and scientific literature.
