Early lipoic acid intake protects retina of diabetic mice.

The aim of this study was to test the effect of lipoic acid treatment on the retina after a short diabetic insult. Diabetes was induced by alloxan and mice were divided into sub-groups; control, diabetic, diabetic+insulin and all groups received+/-lipoic acid (100 mg/kg body weight) for 3 weeks. GSH content, MDA concentration, GPx activity were measured and electroretinograms (ERG) were recorded. Early administration of lipoic acid to diabetic mice prevented the statistically significant decreases of GSH content and GPx activity and normalized MDA concentration. Moreover, lipoic acid restored electroretinogram b-wave amplitude of diabetic animals to control values. Lipoic acid has a protective effect on the diabetic retina.