Alpha Lipoic Acid and Multiple Sclerosis

Nutritional research is done in the United States as in the case of scientists from the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland, Oregon, who tried to learn more about the role of Alpha Lipoic Acid in multiple sclerosis.  

Alpha Lipoic Acid  (ALA) is a powerful antioxidant. Thirty-seven multiple sclerosis subjects were given alpha lipoic acid 1200 mg a day for 14 days. The results were positive. ALA was able to lower levels of two markers for multiple sclerosis called MMP-9 and CAMP-1. The researchers say, "ALA may prove useful in treating multiple sclerosis by inhibiting MMP-9 activity and interfering with T-cell migration into the CNS." MMP-9 is a matrix metalloproteinase substance which is high in multiple sclerosis patients. MMP-9 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer, autoimmune disease, and various pathologic conditions characterized by excessive fibrosis. The fact that ALA was able to reduce it is a positive indication.