Abstract
Aims
To compare the efficacy and safety of daily lipoic acid (300–600 mg i.v.) plus methylcobalamin (500–1000 mg i.v. or im.) (LA–MC) with that of methylcobalamin alone (MC) on diabetic peripheral
neuropathy (DPN).
Methods
Electronic database were searched for studies published up to November 1, 2012 and
study quality was assessed in duplicate. A random or a fixed effect model was used
to analyse outcomes which were expressed as risk ratios (RRs) or mean difference (MD).
I2 statistic was used to assess heterogeneity.
Results
Seventeen studies were included. Combined data from all studies showed that the LA–MC
combination therapy was significantly superior to MC monotherapy (RR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.37–1.58). Superiority of the LA–MC combination was shown in nerve
conduction velocity (NCV) with WMDs of 6.89 (95% CI: 4.24–9.73) for median motor nerve
conduction velocity (MNCV), 5.24 (4.14–6.34) for median sensory nerve conduction velocity
(SNCV), 4.34 (3.03–5.64) for peroneal MNCV, and 4.53 (3.2–5.85) for peroneal SNCV.
There were no serious adverse events associated with treatment.
Conclusions
The results of the meta-analysis show that treatment with LA–MC for 2–4 weeks is associated with better outcomes in NCV and neuropathic symptoms relative
to MC treatment. However larger well-designed studies are required to confirm this
conclusion.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 13, 2013
Accepted:
March 25,
2013
Received in revised form:
February 12,
2013
Received:
November 19,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
