Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology

Abstract

Comparative Study of Vitamin B Complex Combined with Alpha Lipoic Acid versus Vitamin B Complex in Treatment of Diabetic Polyneuropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Boghdadi MA, Afify HE, Sabri N, Makboul K and Elmazar M

Objective: Diabetic Polyneuropathy (DPN) represents a major health problem as it increases morbidity affecting patients’ quality of life. Vitamin B frequently is used for treating DPN. ALPHA Lipoic Acid (ALA) seems to delay or reverse DPN. The present study compared the effect of Vitamin B complex combined with ALA versus Vitamin B in treatment of DPN in Egyptian type 2 diabetic patients.

Methods: Forty type 2 diabetic patients with DPN of whom twenty received once-daily oral doses of ALA (600 mg) in combination with Vitamin B complex and the other twenty only received vitamin B complex for 12 weeks. Patients were evaluated by Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) questionnaire and Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS). Blood samples were collected for determination of Insulin Resistance and lipid abnormalities. All the previous assessments were performed at baseline and at week 12.

Results: There was a significant reduction after 12 weeks of supplementation in vitamin B complex plus Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) group using MNSI questionnaire (p=0.001) and not in vitamin B complex group. NCS demonstrated that 12 out of 16 patients in vitamin B complex plus ALA group showed improvement in at least one property measured compared with only 6 out of 16 in vitamin B complex group (p=0.0732). The influence of the combination on the progression of diabetes with regards to insulin resistance and lipid profile showed no advantage over Vitamin B complex alone.

Conclusion: Combined therapy of DPN with ALA and Vitamin B complex, orally for 12 weeks improves the symptoms of neuropathy (MNSI) with a similar trend in NCS.