Objectives: Stroke is followed by an inflammatory response lasting up to several months. Moreover, many of the stroke-related comorbidities (i.e., diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and atherosclerosis) are characterized by an pro-inflammatory status.
Material and methods: We designed this pilot study to evaluate the relation between the consumption of a nutritional supplement (ALAnerv®) and the dynamic of the inflammatory status in post-acute stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation. The study population comprised 28 patients which were assigned into two study groups, named (-) ALA and (+) ALA. All subjects followed the same rehabilitation program. There were no significant differences in respect to the standard medication between the groups. Moreover, patients from the (+) ALA group received ALAnerv® for two weeks (2 pills/day). We assessed IL-1α, IL-6, TNF-α, sICAM-1, and myeloperoxidase in blood samples taken at the beginning and at the end of the study period.
Outcomes: In the (+) ALA group only IL-1α (- 9.9% ± 3.7, P = 0.013) and IL-6 (- 26.5% ± 8.2, P = 0.003) significantly decreased during the study period. The multiple regression analysis indicated that the ALAnerv® treatment was responsible for the significant decrease of IL-6 level (P = 0.008). Moreover, the percentage of IL-6 variation between the study groups reached statistical significance (8.4% ± 11.5 vs. - 26.5% ± 8.2, P = 0.034).
Conclusions: These results indicate that ALAnerv® could be beneficial for the correction of the inflammatory status in post-acute stroke patients and underline the need of a longer treatment period with a higher dose.
Keywords: ALAnerv®; IL-1α; IL-6; lipoic acid; rehabilitation; stroke.