Abstract
α-Lipoic acid (ALA) can be synthesized by both animals and humans.1 It seems to be readily absorbed from an oral dose and converts easily to its reduced form, dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), in many tissues of the body. An in vitro study indicated that normal mammalian cells appear to be capable of taking up α-lipoic acid and reducing it to DHLA. The effects of both ALA and DHLA are present both intraand extracellularly when exposed to extracellular lipoic acid, e.g. in an oral dose.