engleski

Alpha-lipoic acid reduces symptoms and inflammation biomarkers in patients with chronic haemorrhoidal illness

Background: Oral dietary supplementation is becoming increasingly popular as an addition to classical approaches for the prevention and treatment of haemorrhoidal disease. Aim: to examine the effect of orally administrated alpha lipoic acid (ALA), known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in the treatment of patients with permanent symptoms of haemorrhoidal disease. Methods: Patients with the diagnosis of second- and third degree haemorrhoids (n=100) were enrolled into a randomized, open label, single centre trial. Study group (n=50) was treated with 200 mg of orally administrated alpha lipoic once a day, during the 12-week period and the control group (n=50) did not receive any treatment. Results: There were no significant differences in demographics, diagnosis, or exposure to major risk factors between the study and placebo group at baseline. ALA significantly improved subjective efficacy variables, such as pain and discomfort (p<0.01) as well as objective signs of the disease, such as bleeding (p<0.01) in comparison to the control group. Furthermore, the three-month treatment significantly reduced the number of patients with positive Creactive protein (CRP) value (serum CRP >5 mg/L) from 18% before the treatment to only 2% after the treatment (χ2=4.65 ; p<0.01). Average leukocyte count has also been significantly reduced in the treatment group (p<0.01) from 7.29×109/L before the treatment to 6.18×109/L after the treatment. Conclusions: Obtained results indicate that ALA is effective in the treatment of second- and third degree haemorrhoids.Larger, double-blind controlled trials are needed to confirm obtained results and investigate optimal treatment regimens.

alpha lipoic acid ; anti-inflammatory effect ; clinical study ; haemorrhoids

nije evidentirano