Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39524210›Full record

ReviewCurrent research in pharmacology and drug discovery2024

Alpha-lipoic acid: A promising pharmacotherapy seen through the lens of kidney diseases.

George J Dugbartey, Karl K Alornyo, Christabel O Dapaa-Addo, Emmanuel Botchway, Emmanuel K Kwashie, Yvonne Harley

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Current research in pharmacology and drug discovery, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. The Role of Mitochondria in Polycystic Kidney Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
  3. The Association of Lipoic Acid Synthase (Journal of diabetes research · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

George J DugbarteyDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Karl K AlornyoDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Christabel O Dapaa-AddoDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Accra College of Medicine, East Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Emmanuel BotchwayDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Accra College of Medicine, East Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Emmanuel K KwashieDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Accra College of Medicine, East Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Yvonne HarleyDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Accra College of Medicine, East Legon, Accra, Ghana.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Kidney diseases have rapidly increased in prevalence over the past few decades, and have now become a major global public health concern. This has put economic burden on the public healthcare system and causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Unfortunately, drugs currently in use for the management of kidney diseases have long-term major adverse effects that negatively impact the quality of life of these patients, hence making these drugs a "necessary evil". In recent times, antioxidant therapy has been explored as a potential pharmacological avenue for treatment of kidney diseases, and could offer a better therapeutic option with less adverse effect profile. One of such antioxidants is alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), a sulphur-containing multifunctional antioxidant that is endogenously produced by lipoic acid synthase in the mitochondria of many tissues, including the kidney. Burgeoning evidence indicates that ALA is showing clinical promise in the treatment and pharmacological management of many kidney diseases through its antioxidant and other therapeutic properties by activating several protective mechanisms while inhibiting deleterious signaling pathways. In this review, we present ALA as a potent naturally occurring antioxidant, its mitochondrial biosynthesis and pharmacological properties. In addition, we also discuss within the limit of present literature, ALA and its underlying molecular mechanisms implicated in experimental and clinical treatment of various kidney conditions, and thus, may offer nephrologists an additional and/or alternative avenue in the pharmacological management and treatment of kidney diseases while giving hope to these patients.

Indexed as

Acute kidney injury (AKI)Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA)Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)Diabetic nephropathy (DN)End-stage renal disease (ESRD)Hypertensive nephropathyKidney transplantation

Identifiers

PMID39524210
PMCPMC11550178

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.