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CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Neuropharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1572156
Alpha-lipoic Acid Alleviates Oxidative Stress and Brain Damage in Patients with Sevoflurane Anesthesia
Provisionally accepted
Kailun Gao 1,2 Ying Wu 1,2 Yan Zhang 1,2 Pei Dang 1,2 Huanjia Xue 1
Teng Li 1 Meiyan Zhou 1*
Liwei Wang 1*
Yangzi Zhu 1,2*- 1 Department of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 2 Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Sevoflurane, the most commonly used inhalational anesthetic, may negatively impact the brain by inducing oxidative stress. This study investigated the potential protective role of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) in mitigating sevoflurane-induced oxidative stress and brain damage. A total of 155 patients undergoing sevoflurane anesthesia for liver resection surgery were randomly assigned to receive either ALA or a placebo. Perioperative internal jugular venous blood samples were collected to measure oxidative stress markers (8-OHdG, sORP, and cORP) and brain injury biomarkers (S100β and UCH-L1). Postoperative cognitive function was also evaluated. The results demonstrated that, compared to the placebo group, the ALA group exhibited a significant reduction in 8-OHdG levels by 0.007 nmol/L (95% CI, -0.011 to -0.003; P = 0.03) 24 hours after surgery, accompanied by lower sORP levels and higher cORP levels. Furthermore, postoperative levels of S100β and UCH-L1 were significantly lower in the ALA group than in the placebo group (S100β, P = 0.02; UCH-L1, P = 0.03). Additionally, oxidative stress markers were significantly correlated with brain damage 24 hours after surgery. Our findings suggest that ALA significantly reduces sevoflurane-induced oxidative stress and brain damage, while also improving postoperative cognitive function, indicating its potential neuroprotective effect.
Keywords: Sevoflurane, Alpha-lipoic acid, Oxidative stress, Brain damage, 8-OHdG, S100β Conceptualization, K.G. and Y.W., methodology, K.G., P.D., software, H.X., validation, M.Z., Y.W. and T.L., investigation, K.G., Y.Z., and P.D., formal analysis, P.D., resources, T.L. and Y.W., data curation, H.X.
Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Wu, Zhang, Dang, Xue, Li, Zhou, Wang and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Meiyan Zhou, Department of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Liwei Wang, Department of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Yangzi Zhu, Department of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Clinical College of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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