Hepato-protective effects of alpha lipoic acid besides its role in preventing fatty liver disease

摘要

I read with great interest the recent article by Jung et al. (1). Interestingly, alpha-Lipoic acid exerts a number of beneficial effects in hepatic tissue, besides preventing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. For instance, alpha-Lipoic acid has a negative impact on hepatic fibrosis. It mediates these antifibrosis effects by virtue of its inhibitory effect on the TGF-beta pathway (2). Sp1 and Smad3 are some of the hepatic TGF-beta mediators that are inhibited following alpha-Lipoic acid administration. Similarly, alpha-Lipoic acid attenuates hepatic fibrosis following exposure to worms such as schistosoma when used in combination with agents such as praziquantel (3).