Neuroreport 2001-10-29

Lipoic acid improves survival in transgenic mouse models of Huntington's disease.

O A Andreassen, R J Ferrante, A Dedeoglu, M F Beal

Index: Neuroreport 12(15) , 3371-3, (2001)

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Abstract

There is substantial evidence implicating excitotoxicity and oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease (HD). We therefore examined whether the antioxidants 2-sulpho-tert-phenyibutyinitrone (S-PBN) and alpha-lipoic acid could exert neuroprotective effects in transgenic mouse models of HD. S-PBN showed no effects on either weight loss or survival in the R6/2 transgenic HD mice. alpha-Lipoic acid produced significant increases in survival in both R6/2 and N171-82Q transgenic mouse models of HD. These findings suggest that alpha-lipoic acid might have beneficial effects in HD patients.