A Natural Anti-Oxidant to Prevent Long-Term Complications of Diabetes?

This article was distributed via email by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Feb. 10, 2005. We repost it here for educational purposes only.

The Diabetes Center at UCSF and the UCSF Pediatric Diabetes Program are launching a study to assess the ability of an over-the-counter antioxidant to prevent or delay the long-term complications of type 1 diabetes.

Most people are aware that the long-term effects of diabetes include blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage. Recently, researchers have discovered that high blood sugar increases the amount of free-radicals in those with diabetes. It is believed that these free-radicals cause retinopathy (eye damage), nephropathy (kidney damage) and neuropathy (nerve damage) by a process called “oxidative stress”.

Researchers at UCSF believe that alpha-lipoic acid, a potent anti-oxidant, could decrease oxidative stress, thereby preventing or delaying the devastating long-term complications of diabetes.

Although alpha-lipoic acid is gaining recognition as an effective treatment for diabetes complications after they have occurred, its ability to prevent or delay these complications has not yet been studied in humans. The UCSF study will be the first to assess if this natural anti-oxidant has a future role in preventing or delaying the long-term complications of type 1 diabetes.

In this study, 30 adolescents with type 1 diabetes will be given alpha-lipoic acid, and 10 adolescents with type 1 diabetes will be given placebo pills. The amount of oxidative stress before and after 3 months of treatment will be compared. If the results are promising, a more extensive study will be launched to further explore if alpha-lipoic acid can successfully prevent or delay eye, kidney, and nerve damage.

The study's principal investigators include: Dr. Stephen Gitelman, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Director of the UCSF Pediatric Diabetes Program, and Dr. Eric Huang, Clinical Fellow in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology.

If you or your child is interested in participating in this study, please contact Dr. Huang by phone – (415)-476-8216, or e-mail huange1@itsa.ucsf.edu

To learn more about diabetes research at UCSF, visit http://m1e.net/c?22835818-iHLZru3hKBFHA%40846840-OD4y7WPERUQ9Y