Efficacy of Alpha-Lipoic Acid in Iron-Induced Oxidative Stress.

Antioxidant supplementation could reduce organ damage and premature death in patients with iron overload. We evaluated the improvement in iron-induced oxidative stress with α-Lipoic acid (LA), a multifunctional thiol antioxidant and inducer of phase II enzymes, and compared it with benzylhydroxylamine (BH), a reducing agent that protects against free radicals. Human fibroblasts (IMR-90) were grown in regular cell culture medium or with ferric ammonium citrate (FAC). The intracellular iron content was measured by inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP). Either LA or BH was added on day 2, and cells grown to confluence. Oxidative stress was assessed by dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate fluorescence (DCF-fl). GSH:GSSG was measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The total intracellular iron content (mean±SEM, ng per 5x10^6 cells) increased from 66.95±6.51 in control cells to 262.26±4.69 after exposure to 25 μM FAC, and 556.26±21.15 after exposure to 125 μM FAC. The increase in iron-content of the IMR-90 fibroblasts caused significant rise in oxidant appearance at the highest concentration, as evidenced by 27.8±2.6% increase in steady-state DCF-fl compared with control cells (p <.001). Addition of increasing concentrations of LA attenuated iron-mediated rise in DCF-fl in dose dependent manner. LA at concentrations above 25 μM completely abolished the iron-dependent rise in DCF-fl (91.9±2.3% for FAC+LA, p <.001). BH treated cells also exhibited a dose-dependent decrease in DCF-fl, but a much higher concentration (>200 μM) was needed for complete attenuation of iron-induced rise in DCF-fl (108.3±3.4%, p <.001). These results suggest that LA is more effective than BH in ameliorating iron-mediated increase in oxidative stress. To further understand the basis for the efficacy of LA, intracellular GSH and GSSG were measured. Results show that LA improved the total GSH levels and its redox state in a dose dependent manner. LA and BH attenuated iron-mediated oxidant production, with LA exhibiting greater efficacy. This effect may be due to potent ability of LA to improve intracellular GSH levels and redox state. Our results suggest LA may be useful in reducing complications from iron overload.