Pilot Study on the Effect of Oral Controlled-Release Alpha-Lipoic Acid on Oxidative Stress in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Status

Completed

Conditions

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1

Treatments

Drug: controlled-release oral alpha-lipoic acid

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00187564

H7023-25421

Details and patient eligibility

About

The long-term effects of high blood sugar include blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage that can ultimately cause loss of limbs. Research has shown that high blood sugar increases the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced in diabetics, and that the increase in ROS causes damage to eyes, kidneys, and nerves by a process called "oxidative stress." We postulate that alpha-lipoic acid, a potent anti-oxidant, can stop ROS from forming, thereby preventing long-term complications in diabetes. In this pilot study, we will be giving 30 teenagers with type 1 diabetes (T1D) controlled-release alpha-lipoic acid for 3 months, and comparing the amount of oxidative stress before and after treatment. Ten teenagers with T1D will receive placebo instead of alpha-lipoic acid and undergo the same research protocol to aid in validation of outcome measures.

Sex

All

Ages

8 to 21 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Subjects must be pubertal (defined as Tanner stage II or greater), or post-pubertal, with an upper age limit of 21 years.
Subjects must have diabetes by 1997 ADA criteria:
1. fasting plasma glucose >= 126 mg/dL, or
2. 2 hour postprandial glucose >= 200 mg/dL
Subjects must have history of least one auto-antibody associated with T1D, either glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA) or islet cell autoantigen 512 (ICA512), or history of diabetic ketoacidosis.

Exclusion criteria

Subjects must not have history of eye, kidney or nerve damage 2. Subjects must not be deemed unable or unlikely to comply with the protocol. Children who are unable to swallow pills, or are unwilling to take pills twice daily will be excluded from the study.