Abstract
Simple SummaryA review of human and animal studies involving alpha-lipoic acid supplementation was conducted to determine the utility of alpha-lipoic acid in dog food. The present literature shows that alpha-lipoic acid has utility as a nutritive additive at concentrations of 2.7–4.94 mg/kg body weight/day and improves antioxidant capacity in dogs.Alpha-lipoic acid (a-LA) is used as a nutritive additive in dog food. Therefore, we performed a systematic review of studies published to date in PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library and MedlinePlus involving alpha-lipoic acid supplementation, which included human clinical trials as well as animal studies, to evaluate its utility as a supplement in foods for healthy, adult dogs. While an upper limit of alpha-lipoic acid intake in humans has not been conclusively determined, the levels for oral intake of a-LA have been better defined in animals, and distinct differences based on species have been described. The maximum tolerated oral dose of a-LA in dogs has been reported as 126 mg/kg body weight and the LD50 as 400 to 500 mg/kg body weight. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuro-protective benefits of alpha-lipoic acid in dogs were observed at concentrations much lower than the maximum tolerated dose or proposed LD50. At concentrations of 2.7–4.94 mg/kg body weight/day, alpha-lipoic acid is well tolerated and posed no health risks to dogs while providing improved antioxidant capacity. This review thereby supports the utility of alpha-lipoic acid as an effective nutritive additive in dog food.
Highlights
The following databases were searched for studies involving alpha-lipoic acid supplementation, which included human clinical trials as well as animal studies to evaluate its utility as a supplement in foods for healthy, adult dogs, published from 1960 until January 2021: PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library and MedlinePlus
This study demonstrated that the addition of alpha-lipoic acid of up to 3000 ppm in dog food did not pose any health risk to healthy adult dogs
The results showed that alpha-lipoic acid, as part of a complete and balanced food, was well tolerated at the concentrations used and increased the endogenous glutathione activity in healthy adult dogs, supporting its use as an antioxidant
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Alpha-lipoic acid can effectively scavenge and neutralize a wide range of ROS and RNS such as superoxides, dioxygen species, hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals, peroxynitrite and perhypochlorite [4] These radicals are known to play a vital role in diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Very rare cases of lipoic acid deficiency have been described in human patients by an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance of mutations in genes coding for proteins of the lipoic acid biosynthetic pathway These include genes for lipoyl transferase 1 (LIPT1), lipoic acid synthetase (LIAS), and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD, which is the E3 component of the α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex) [19,20,21]. A systematic review of human and animal studies involving alpha-lipoic acid supplementation was conducted to determine the utility of alpha-lipoic acid supplementation in foods for healthy, adult dogs
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