Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is a natural short-chain fatty acid that has attracted great attention in recent years as an antioxidant molecule. However, some concerns have been recently raised regarding its safety profile. To address the issue, we aimed to assess ALA safety profile through a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis of the available randomized placebo-controlled clinical studies. The literature search included EMBASE, PubMed Medline, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and ISI Web of Science by Clarivate databases up to 15th August 2020. Data were pooled from 71 clinical studies, comprising 155 treatment arms, which included 4749 subjects with 2558 subjects treated with ALA and 2294 assigned to placebo. A meta-analysis of extracted data suggested that supplementation with ALA was not associated with an increased risk of any treatment-emergent adverse event (all p > 0.05). ALA supplementation was safe, even in subsets of studies categorized according to smoking habit, cardiovascular disease, presence of diabetes, pregnancy status, neurological disorders, rheumatic affections, severe renal impairment, and status of children/adolescents at baseline.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on pulse wave velocity and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. A randomized controlled study was performed, including 72 patients with type 2 diabetes and newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea recruited from outpatient clinics at three Danish hospitals. The patients were randomized to continuous positive airway pressure for 12 weeks or no continuous positive airway pressure. Office measurements were performed at baseline, 4 weeks and 12 weeks. At baseline and 12 weeks, a 24-hr measurement of pulse wave velocity and blood pressure was performed. No significant change was observed in the primary outcome variable of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity measured with SphygmoCor. With the Mobil-O-Graph, changes in office pulse wave velocity between the groups were significant: 0.3 m/s; 95% confidence interval, 0.1-0.6; p = .02. The group receiving continuous positive airway pressure had a larger decrease in pulse wave velocity than controls but none of the changes within the groups were significant. No significant change in ambulatory blood pressure was observed in any of the two groups after 12 weeks. In conclusion, continuous positive airway pressure treatment for 12 weeks does not significantly reduce pulse wave velocity or blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. | 7 of 11 KROGAGER Et Al.
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