Hosseinpour-Arjmand Sonya, Amirkhizi Farshad, Ebrahimi-Mameghani Mehrangiz
Student Research Committee, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
J Clin Pharm Ther. 2019 Apr;44(2):258-267. doi: 10.1111/jcpt.12784. Epub 2018 Dec 25.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver injury. Some animal studies suggest that alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) can improve disease outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ALA supplementation on liver enzymes and inflammatory markers in obese patients with NAFLD.
In the current randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 50 obese patients with NAFLD were randomly allocated to either "ALA"(received 1200 mg ALA as two capsules per day plus 400 mg vitamin E) or "placebo"(received placebo containing starch, as two capsules per day plus 400 mg vitamin E) groups for 12 weeks. Body composition and anthropometric measures, serum levels of liver enzymes, adiponectin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and ferritin were measured at baseline and the end of the study.
A total number of 45 patients completed the study (ALA group = 23; placebo group = 22). The serum concentration of IL-6 decreased significantly in ALA group in comparison with the placebo group, at end of the study (P = 0.049). Furthermore, ALA intake resulted in a significant increase in serum adiponectin levels compared to placebo (P = 0.008). A significant improvement was observed in liver steatosis grade of the patients in both groups, compared to baseline (P < 0.05). However, there was no difference between the two groups for the changes in liver steatosis, by the end of the study. Body composition and anthropometric measures, liver enzymes, MCP-1 and ferritin serum levels were not significantly different between the study groups, neither at the baseline nor at the end of the study.
Collectively, ALA supplementation improved serum adiponectin and IL-6 levels, without changing serum liver enzymes and liver steatosis in obese patients with NAFLD.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）是慢性肝损伤最常见的病因。一些动物研究表明，α-硫辛酸（ALA）可改善疾病结局。本研究旨在探讨补充ALA对肥胖NAFLD患者肝酶和炎症标志物的影响。
在当前这项随机、双盲、安慰剂对照的临床试验中，50例肥胖NAFLD患者被随机分为“ALA组”（每天服用两粒含1200mg ALA的胶囊加400mg维生素E）或“安慰剂组”（每天服用两粒含淀粉的安慰剂加400mg维生素E），为期12周。在基线和研究结束时测量身体成分和人体测量指标、血清肝酶、脂联素、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、单核细胞趋化蛋白-1（MCP-1）和铁蛋白水平。
共有45例患者完成研究（ALA组=23例；安慰剂组=22例）。在研究结束时，与安慰剂组相比，ALA组血清IL-6浓度显著降低（P=0.049）。此外，与安慰剂相比，摄入ALA导致血清脂联素水平显著升高（P=0.008）。与基线相比，两组患者的肝脂肪变性分级均有显著改善（P<0.05）。然而，到研究结束时，两组在肝脂肪变性变化方面无差异。研究组之间的身体成分和人体测量指标、肝酶、MCP-1和铁蛋白血清水平在基线和研究结束时均无显著差异。
总体而言，补充ALA可改善肥胖NAFLD患者的血清脂联素和IL-6水平，而不改变血清肝酶和肝脂肪变性。
