| Background: There are numerous trials reported the effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA)
on obesity measurements; while no summarised dose-response meta-analysis is
available to address the effects of dose and duration of ALA supplementation on
obesity measurements. We aimed to summarise the results of studies evaluating the
effects of ALA supplementation on obesity measurements in a systematic review and
dose-response meta-analysis.
Methods and Materials: In a systematic search from Scopus, PubMed, Embase,
Proquest electronic databases up to January 2020 relevant studies were retrieved.
Randomised, placebo-controlled trials investigating the effect of ALA supplementation
on obesity measurements including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference
(WC), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and fat mass (FM) were included. Two
class and dose-response meta-analysis were performed to data analysis.
Results: Totally, 18, 21 and 8 studies were included for the meta-analysis of ALAweight,
ALA-BMI, ALA-WC, respectively. In the two-class meta-analysis, ALA treatment
significantly reduced weight (WMD: −2.29 kg, 95% CI: −2.98, 1.60, P < .01) and
BMI (WMD: −0.49 kg/m2, 95% CI:-0.83,-0.15, P = .005) but no effect on WC (WMD:
−2.57 cm, 95% CI: −8.91, 3.76; P = .426). While the dose-response meta-analysis revealed
that the duration of ALA treatment is a significant factor affecting WC reduction
(Pnon-linearity = .047). While no evidence of departure from linearity was observed
for other variables; moreover, subgrouping also revealed that gender could be an important
factor affecting the ALA impact on WC which was significant among women
(WMD: −4.099; CI: −7.837, −0.361; P = .032).
Conclusion: According to our finding, ALA treatment significantly reduced BMI,
weight in a two-class meta-analysis without evidence of departure from linearity in
terms of dose or duration. While the association of ALA treatment on WC is dependent
to the duration of the study. Although further trials evaluating the other obesity
measurements specially central obesity will be helpful to infer a more reliable result. |