Lipoic acid + acetyl-L-carnitine

NHE · Volunteer Moderator Joined: Nov 21, 2004 Posts: 760

Here's an interesting paper on lipoic acid. Although it's not MS (Parkinson's Disease), R-lipoic acid combined with acetyl-L-carnitine was found to be 100 to 1000 more effective than either alone in protecting mitochondria in a cellular Parkinson's Disease model.

Combined R-alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine exerts efficient preventative effects in a cellular model of Parkinson's disease.
J Cell Mol Med. 2008 Jun 20.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage are highly involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Some mitochondrial antioxidants/nutrients that can improve mitochondrial function and/or attenuate oxidative damage have been implicated in PD therapy. However, few studies have evaluated the preventative effects of a combination of mitochondrial antioxidants/nutrients against PD, and even fewer have sought to optimize the doses of the combined agents. The present study examined the preventative effects of two mitochondrial antioxidant/nutrients, R-alpha-lipoic acid (LA) and acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC), in a chronic rotenone-induced cellular model of PD. We demonstrated that 4-week pretreatment with LA and/or ALC effectively protected SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma cells against rotenone-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative damage, and accumulation of alpha-synuclein and ubiquitin. Most notably, we found that when combined, LA and ALC worked at 100 to 1000 fold lower concentrations than they did individually. We also found that pretreatment with combined LA and ALC increased mitochondrial biogenesis and decreased production of reactive oxygen species through the upregulation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1alpha as a possible underlying mechanism. This study provides important evidence that combining mitochondrial antioxidant/nutrients at optimal doses might be an effective and safe prevention strategy for PD.

NHE

Abe · Family Member Joined: Apr 11, 2007 Posts: 31

Great find. I would love to read the whole article.

DIM · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:46 am Post subject:

Interesting, I give to my wife daily 2 caps (each with 500mg Acetyl-L-Carnitine, 200mg lipoic acid and 20mg Q10) and 2 caps 500mg ALC.