ALA and Atherosclerosis-Heart Disease, Strokes, Blood Vessel Health

Atherosclerosis

 Oxidative stress is considered to be the primary cause in many cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis.42 As we age, oxidative stress increases through an increase in the production of reactive oxygen species and/or a decrease in the body’s antioxidant defenses. This increase in oxidative stress is paralleled by an increase in cardiovascular conditions like atherosclerosis. Research demonstrates that antioxidants help to decrease the incidence of atherosclerosis. ALA exerts potent antioxidant effects on the body and has been studied in experimental models for its ability to prevent and reverse atherosclerosis.

In one study, Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits were fed with high cholesterol chow for 6 weeks and then randomized to receive either high cholesterol diet alone or high cholesterol diet combined with 20 mg/kg/day of ALA for 12 weeks.43 At the end of the 12 weeks, researchers found that ALA decreased body weight by 15 ± 5% without alterations in lipid parameters and reduced atherosclerotic plaque in the abdominal aorta with morphological analysis revealing reduced lipid and inflammatory cell content. Furthermore, ALA improved vascular reactivity (as revealed by decreased constriction to angiotensin II and increased relaxation to acetylcholine and insulin), inhibited NF-κB activation, and decreased oxidative stress and expression of key adhesion molecules in the vasculature.

An unrelated study demonstrated the cardioprotective effects of ALA. Eighteen adult male New Zealand White rabbits were randomly assigned to three groups for 10 weeks. One group was fed with normal chow (control group), one was fed with a 1% high cholesterol diet to induce hypercholesterolemia, and the third group was fed a 1% high cholesterol diet plus 4.2 mg/body weight of ALA. At the end of the study, blood total cholesterol (TCHOL) and lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) levels were found to be significantly lower in the ALA group compared to that of the group that consumed a high cholesterol diet alone. The ALA group also had less atherosclerotic plaque in their aortas than the group that consumed a high cholesterol diet alone, leading researchers to conclude that, apart from its antioxidant activity, ALA may also exert a lipid-lowering effect on TCHOL and LDL levels and may reduce atherosclerosis formation in rabbits fed a high cholesterol diet.

A similarly designed study conducted on streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice models revealed that ALA completely prevented the increase in TCHOL, atherosclerotic lesions, and the general decline in health typically observed with diabetes, suggesting that ALA is a promising protective agent for reducing cardiovascular complications of diabetes.44

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