Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Authors (Ref) | Publication year | Sample size (control/intervention) | Country/population | Intervention (name and daily dose) | Duration | Presented data | Age (y) (control, intervention) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong et al. [22] | 2017 | 32/30 | China/patients with diabetic nephropathy | 450 mg ALA (IV) + 20 μg alprostadil | 2 weeks | CRP, IL-6, TNF-α | 65.82 ± 11.63, 67.24 ± 10.81 | Decreased CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α |
| Sardu et al. [25] | 2017 | 40/33 | Italy/overweight patients with atrial fibrilation | 600 mg ALA | 12 months | CRP, IL-6, TNF-α | 61.5 ± 8.1, 58.8 ± 6.7 | Decreased CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α |
| Huerta et al. [30] | 2016 | 21/19 | Spain/overweight and obese women | 300 mg ALA | 10 weeks | CRP, IL-6 | range: 20–50 | Decreased CRP and IL-6 |
| Huerta et al. [30] | 2016 | 21/17 | Spain/overweight and obese women | 300 mg ALA + 1.3 g EPA | 10 weeks | CRP, IL-6 | range: 20–50 | Decreased CRP |
| Marfella et al. [28] | 2015 | 21/22 | Italy/overweight patients with cardiomyopathy | 600 mg ALA | 12 months | CRP, TNF-α | 63.9 ± 5.2, 63.7 ± 6.5 | Decreased CRP and TNF-α |
| Safa et al. [37] | 2014 | 31/30 | Iran/patients with ESRD on hemodialysis | 600 mg ALA | 8 weeks | TNF-α | 55.20 ± 13.43, 59.3 ± 10.47 | No effect |
| Ahmadi et al. [23] | 2013 | 24/20 | Iran/hemodialysis patients | 600 mg ALA | 2 months | CRP, IL-6 | 48.9 ± 12.5, 48.8 ± 11.2 | Decreased CRP and IL-6 |
| Ahmadi et al. [23] | 2013 | 24/24 | Iran/hemodialysis patients | 600 mg ALA + 400 IU vitamin E | 2 months | CRP, IL-6 | 48.9 ± 12.5, 53.2 ± 9.8 | Decreased CRP and IL-6 |
| El-Nakib et al. [35] | 2013 | 22/22 | Egypt/patients with CRF on hemodialysis | 600 mg ALA | 3 months | IL-6 | 46.2 ± 14.4, 49.1 ± 16.2 | No effect |
| Hegazy et al. [36] | 2013 | 15/15 | Egypt/patients with T1DM | 600 mg ALA + insulin | 4 months | TNF-α | 11.1 ± 2.3, 11.9 ± 1.4 | Decreased TNF-α |
| Cinteza al. [32] | 2013 | 14/14 | Romania/post acute stroke patients | 600 mg ALA + other nutrients | 2 weeks | IL-6, TNF-α | 67.1 ± 10.85, 64 ± 10.85 | Decreased IL-6 and TNF-α |
| Nasole et al. [33] | 2013 | 6/10 | Italy/patients with chronic leg wound and metabolic disease | 600 mg ALA | 2 weeks | IL-6, TNF-α | 72,59 | Decreased IL-6 and TNF-α |
| Nasole et al. [33] | 2013 | 6/10 | Italy/patients with chronic leg wound and metabolic disease | 600 mg R-(+)-lipoic acid (RLA) | 2 weeks | IL-6, TNF-α | 72,72 | Decreased IL-6 and TNF-α |
| Khabbazi et al. [27] | 2012 | 28/24 | Iran/patients with ESRD on hemodialysis | 600 mg ALA | 8 weeks | CRP | 54.04 ± 13.96, 53.83 ± 13.29 | Decreased CRP |
| Manning et al. [24] | 2012 | 39/34 | New Zealand/patients with MetS | 600 mg ALA | 12 months | CRP, IL-6, TNF-α | 57 ± 9, 55 ± 10 | No effect |
| Zhang et al. [16] | 2011 | 9/13 | China/obese patients with impaired glucose tolerance | 600 mg ALA (IV) | 2 weeks | IL-6, TNF-α | 52.6 ± 6.2, 52.5 ± 8.2 | Decreased IL-6 and TNF-α |
| Xiang et al. [21] | 2011 | 30/30 | China/patients with impaired fasting glucose | 600 mg ALA (IV) | 3 weeks | CRP | 58 ± 9, 58 ± 10 | Decreased CRP |
| Gianturco et al. [29] | 2009 | 7/7 | Italy/patients with NIDDM | 400 mg ALA | 4 weeks | CRP | 58 ± 16, 61 ± 7 | No effect |
| Chang et al. [26] | 2007 | 25/25 | Korea/diabetic ESRD patients on hemodialysis | 600 mg ALA | 12 weeks | CRP | 66 ± 7, 63 ± 6 | No effect |
| Sola et al. [34] | 2005 | 14/15 | USA/patients with MetS | 300 mg ALA | 4 weeks | IL-6 | 44 ± 13, 46 ± 15 | Decreased IL-6 |
| Sola et al. [34] | 2005 | 14/15 | USA/patients with MetS | 300 mg ALA + 150 mg irbesartan | 4 weeks | IL-6 | 44 ± 13, 48 ± 12 | Decreased IL-6 |
| Romos et al. [31] | 2012 | 28/30 | USA/patients with CKD | 600 mg ALA + 666 IU tocopherols | 8 weeks | CRP, IL-6 | 64.5 ± 8.8, 58.6 ± 12.0 | Decreased IL-6 |
ALA alpha-lipoic acid, CRF chronic renal failure, CKD chronic kidney disease, ESRD end-stage renal disease, IV intravascular, IL-6 interlokin-6, CRP C-reactive protein, MetS metabolic syndrome, NIDDM non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor alpha, T1DM type 1 diabetes mellitus, T2DM type 2 diabetes mellitus