The neurohumoral systems of patients with ischemic heart disease and under emotional-pain stress: the means for their pharmacological regulation
Fomichev VI, Pchelintsev VP.
Kardiologiia. 1993;33(10):15-8, 3.

The sympathetic-adrenal and kallikrein-kinin systems were studied in 225 patients with various coronary heart diseases before and after therapy with lipoic acid (150 mg/day), tocopherol (100 mg/day), anaprilin (40 mg/day), prodectin (750 mg/day) or their combination. Myocardial and adrenal catecholamine levels were measured in experiments on animals exposed to emotional pain stress. Their levels were found to be affected by lipoic acid, tocopherol, obsidan or their combinations in the same doses, taking into account species specificity. Lipoic acid therapy for patients with coronary heart disease decreased epinephrine excretion, enhanced the elimination of vanillylmandelic acid and norepinephrine. Tocopherol lowered daily urinary epinephrine levels and increased the release of vanillylmandelic acid, without changing epinephrine excretion. Emotional pain stress resulted in myocardial epinephrine accumulation and adrenal norepinephrine in the animals. Lipoic acid prevented this accumulation, whereas tocopherol did not possess this effect.

Protective role of DL-alpha-lipoic acid against mercury-induced neural lipid peroxidation.
Anuradha B, Varalakshmi P.
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Dr AL Mudaliar Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Madras University, Taramani, Madras, 600 113, India.
Pharmacol Res. 1999 Jan;39(1):67-80.

Experimental neurotoxicity in rat models was induced by an intramuscular injection of mercuric chloride. dl-alpha-lipoic acid was administered as an antidote in three protocols of experimental design. Two protocols of short-term exposure of mercury was designed, one with prophylactic therapy and the other with curative therapy of lipoic acid. The third protocol was with prophylactic therapy of lipoic acid on long-term exposure of mercury. Enhanced lipid peroxidation, depleted non-enzymic and perturbed enzymic antioxidant status were observed in cerebral cortex, cerebellum and sciatic nerves of the toxic groups. The ameliorating effect of lipoic acid and its therapeutic efficacy during various modes of therapy, on the antioxidant status was established in the nervous tissues. Scientific abstracts from Pubmed