Effects of α-lipoic acid in combination with mecobalamin on diabetic peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Objective To observe the efficacy of α-lipoic acid in combination with mecobalamin for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods 68 patients with DPN were randomly divided into observation group and control group with each group of 34 cases.The observation group received α-lipoic acid 600 mg/d and mecobalamin 500 μ g/d by intravenous drip for 3 weeks,and the control group received mecobalamin 500 μ g/d by intravenous drip for 3 weeks.Before treatment and after treatment,their total symptoms score (TSS) and nerve conductive velocity were measured and compared,and the side effects of drugs were observed.Results Compared with that before treatment,the TSS was decreased and nerve conductive velocity was accelerated significantly after 3 weeks of treatment in both groups (all P ＜ 0.01).Compared with the control group,the TSS decrease of the observation group was more obvious after treatment and the difference was significant in statistics (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in nerve conductive velocity between the two groups after the treatment (P ＞ 0.05).The serious side effects were not found in both groups.Conclusion α-lipoic acid in combination with mecobalamin is effective and safe in the treatment of DPN in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.The combined therapy of α-lipoic acid and mecobalamin is better than single mecobalamin for the improvement of DPN symptoms. Key words: α-lipoic acid; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN); Mecobalamin