Is Alpha-Lipoic Acid Effective in the Treatment of Obesity?
Saadet Pilten Güzel1, Mahmut Sasani2, Oytun Erbaş3
1University of Health Sciences, Bağcılar Training and Research Hospital, Department of Medical Chemistry, İstanbul, Türkiye
2Bezmi Alem University, Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
3ERBAS Institute of Experimental Medicine, Illinois, USA & Gebze, Türkiye
Keywords: ALA, alpha-lipoic acid, energy homeostasis, insulin resistance, leptin, obesity
Abstract
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA, also thioctic acid) is an organosulfur component and has antioxidant properties. It functions as a crucial cofactor for the respiratory enzymes in the mitochondria. Additionally, ALA can be used as a supplement to help with weight loss and is known to have anti-obesity properties. Since obesity is an inflammatory health problem that can induce an excessive fat build-up in adipose tissue and chronic diseases, insulin resistance, macrophages, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, interleukin-2, leptin, and adiponectin all play a role in its pathogenesis. Alpha-lipoic acid enhances energy expenditure by upregulating uncoupling protein-1 expression in brown adipose tissue via hypothalamic 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase. Furthermore, ALA has the ability to directly or indirectly regulate the expression of genes involved in energy balance, food consumption, hepatic cholesterol clearance, and fat synthesis and oxidation. The weight control can have an impact by lowering the body mass index or weight. Although the reviewed literature contains studies on the amount of dose and duration of administration, investigations that provide a comprehensive conclusion about the effect of ingesting ALA in liquid and solid form on obesity are insufficient. This review combined papers on the use of ALA as a supplement in the treatment of obesity and demonstrated the need for additional research on the topic.
Cite this article as: Pilten-Güzel S, Sasani M, Erbaş O. Is Alpha-Lipoic Acid Effective in the Treatment of Obesity? JEB Med Sci 2022;3(3):206-212.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.