1. Effect of combined treatment with alpha-Lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine on vascular function and blood pressure in patients with coronary artery disease.
- Author
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McMackin CJ, Widlansky ME, Hamburg NM, Huang AL, Weller S, Holbrook M, Gokce N, Hagen TM, Keaney JF Jr, and Vita JA
- Subjects
- Acetylcarnitine metabolism, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Biomarkers blood, Biomarkers urine, Blood Flow Velocity drug effects, Boston, Brachial Artery drug effects, Brachial Artery physiopathology, Coronary Artery Disease metabolism, Cross-Over Studies, Double-Blind Method, Drug Therapy, Combination, Endothelium, Vascular metabolism, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Research Design, Treatment Outcome, Vasodilation drug effects, Acetylcarnitine therapeutic use, Blood Pressure drug effects, Coronary Artery Disease drug therapy, Coronary Artery Disease physiopathology, Endothelium, Vascular drug effects, Endothelium, Vascular physiopathology, Thioctic Acid therapeutic use, Vitamin B Complex therapeutic use
- Abstract
Mitochondria produce reactive oxygen species that may contribute to vascular dysfunction. alpha-Lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine reduce oxidative stress and improve mitochondrial function. In a double-blind crossover study, the authors examined the effects of combined alpha-lipoic acid/acetyl-L-carnitine treatment and placebo (8 weeks per treatment) on vasodilator function and blood pressure in 36 subjects with coronary artery disease. Active treatment increased brachial artery diameter by 2.3% (P=.008), consistent with reduced arterial tone. Active treatment tended to decrease systolic blood pressure for the whole group (P=.07) and had a significant effect in the subgroup with blood pressure above the median (151+/-20 to 142+/-18 mm Hg; P=.03) and in the subgroup with the metabolic syndrome (139+/-21 to 130+/-18 mm Hg; P=.03). Thus, mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to the regulation of blood pressure and vascular tone. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine the clinical utility of alpha-lipoic acid/acetyl-L-carnitine as antihypertensive therapy.
- Published
- 2007
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