Elf:

I managed to locate a saved copy of the web page that introduced me to
lipoic acid.  I'm not sure of the date of this article, but it is probably a
3 or 4 years old.  I pulled it off of the UC Berkeley website.

Hope that this helps.  If I stumble on some more recent stuff, I will let
you know.  I have seen vague references to research concerning the use of
alpha-lipoic acid in the treatment of Alzheimers and Parkinson's but have
been unable to find anything specific on the Web.

                Ron Reiner (50/2)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Berkeley -- A relatively unknown antioxidant is actually more potent
than its better-known cousins, such as vitamins C and E, and could
prove useful in treating disease and protecting the body against the
daily assaults that lead to disease and aging, according to a UC
Berkeley scientist.

The antioxidant is alpha-lipoic acid, currently used in Europe to
treat peripheral nerve degeneration (neuropathy) resulting from
diabetes.

It could have much broader use in treating disease, however, and may
have general health benefits when taken as a daily supplement like
other antioxidants. It is already available in some health food stores
as a "metabolic antioxidant."

"Alpha-lipoic acid could have far-reaching consequences in the search
for prevention and therapy of chronic degenerative diseases such as
diabetes and cardiovascular disease," says Lester Packer, one of the
leading researchers in the area of antioxidants-vitamin E and
alpha-lipoic acid in particular-and a professor of molecular and cell
biology at the University of California at Berkeley.

"And because it's the only antioxidant that can easily get into the
brain, it could be useful in preventing damage from a stroke," he
says.

Packer and other scientists discussed new data on the effects of
oxidants and antioxidants in various areas of biology at a meeting
earlier this month in Santa Barbara of the Oxygen Club of California,
an international group of scientists.

Antioxidants are chemicals that defuse free radicals-destructive
chemicals produced by the body and thought to contribute to aging and
ailments ranging from heart disease to stroke.

Known for more than 30 years and once thought to be a vitamin,
alpha-lipoic acid was recognized as an antioxidant a mere seven years
ago, and only recently have scientists discovered how it works in the
body.

New data from Packer's laboratory reported in this month's issue of
Brain Research show that alphalipoic acid can significantly increase
survival in rats that have suffered a stroke, if given before the
stroke occurs. Though pretreatment with alpha-lipoic acid is
impractical, the results prove the importance of this antioxidant in
preventing cell and tissue damage, Packer says.

Studies several years ago showed a similar role for lipoic acid in
preventing tissue damage and death after a heart attack.

All antioxidants-the best known are vitamins C and E, beta-carotene
and related carotenoids, and a family of chemicals called
flavonoids-work by disarming deadly free radicals before they wreak
havoc on cells and tissue in the body. Essentially "toxic waste"
generated by most normal processes in the body, from breathing to
digestion, free radicals are thought to contribute to disease and
aging.

While the body's normal load of antioxidants is thought to be
sufficient to limit damage from free radicals, many people take
supplements in hopes of reducing free radical damage even further, and
maybe reducing the chance of developing cancer, heart disease and
diabetes.

Also, part of the reason nutritionists recommend eating fruits and
vegetables is because they provide large doses of antioxidant Citrus
and tomatoes contain vitamin C, yellow and orange vegetables provide
large amounts of beta-carotene, fruits have loads of flavonoids and
many natural foods, especially grains, contain vitamin E.

Over the years evidence has accumulated to support the value of taking
extra antioxidants, to the extent that the FDA is now considering
whether to allow health claims on bottles of these supplements.

"Though the evidence is largely circumstantial that antioxidants are
beneficial, it continues to become stronger," Packer said. "We would
be foolish not to take account of this evidence."

What Packer has fleshed out in recent years is how alpha-lipoic acid
and other antioxidants interact in a complex recycling process in the
body.

He showed several years ago, for example, that vitamin E "recycles"
vitamin C in the body-that is, after vitamin E has disarmed or
oxidized a free radical, vitamin C can come along and return vitamin E
to fighting form. The two vitamins thus work together to prevent free
radical damage in the body, Packer says.

Since then he and his colleagues have shown that, in turn, vitamin C
can be recycled by glutathione, an antioxidant produced only in the
body. The cycle continues with another antioxidant, NADPH -- a
coenzyme, or chemical essential to the action of other
enzymes-recycling glutathione.

Despite this detailed understanding of the antioxidant cycle, when
Packer and other researchers tried to boost antioxidant levels to
determine whether they can protect against disease, they were unable
to find a way to increase glutathione levels. Glutathione cannot be
taken by mouth like vitamins C and E because it is broken down in the
stomach before it reaches the bloodstream.

Alpha-lipoic acid proved to be the missing link, Packer says. Not only
does it act as an antioxidant itself, it also stimulates production of
glutathione, giving cells a double dose of antioxidant. It also is
easily absorbed when taken orally, and once inside cells is quickly
converted to its most potent form, dihydrolipoic acid.

Because both alpha-lipoic acid and dihydrolipoic acid are
antioxidants, their combined actions give them greater antioxidant
potency than any natural antioxidant now known, Packer says.

He notes another property of alpha-lipoic acid that makes it a great
antioxidant. Since it is soluble in both water and fat, it can move
into all parts of the cell to neutralize free radicals. Vitamin C, on
the other hand, is limited to the watery parts of cells because it is
soluble only in water; while vitamin E is soluble only in fat and
sticks to the fatty parts of cells.

Packer says alpha-lipoic acid also is important in cell metabolism, or
the production of energy inside the cell. Without alpha-lipoic acid,
cells cannot utilize sugar to produce energy and they shut down.

This makes alpha-lipoic acid a metabolic antioxidant, able to draw on
the cell's own metabolism to magnify its protective effects and that
of other antioxidants.

"Just 10 years ago scientists had a simplistic view of free radicals
and antioxidants," Packer says. "Today knowledge of a global
antioxidant network has emerged which is linked to the metabolic
energy producing process-a new perspective that is leading to an
explosion of basic research and therapeutic studies."

Some of this recent rcsearch was reported at thc Oxygen Club meeting
in early Fcbruary. For example, Packer and Chandan K. Sen, a
researcher from Finland, described how alpha-lirloic acid regulates
aspects of the immune system, in particular immune cells called
T-lymphocytes.

Other scientists discussed the use of alpha-lipoic acid in AIDS
therapy and the treatment of diabetes.


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At 12:29 AM 12/4/97 EST, Elf wrote:
>Ron,
> If it's possiable would you mind sending more detailed info on "lipoic acid"
>...or directing me to a website that has real information about this substance
><can ya tell I don't wanna (unless I have to) scroll thru "try me, buy me"
>ads> ... Thanks ... Elf in TN...Romona
>