16 Journal of Endocrinology Research | Volume 02 | Issue 02 | July 2020 Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jer.v2i2.2750 Journal of Endocrinology Research https://ojs.bilpublishing.com/index.php/jer ARTICLE Alpha-lipoic Acid: Effects on the Beat-to-Beat Vectorcardiographic Pa- rameters in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Victoria Serhiyenko * Krystina Kozlovska Alexandr Serhiyenko Department of Endocrinology, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, 79010, Ukraine ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Received: 29 December 2020 Accepted: 28 January 2021 Published Online: 31 January 2021 Objective: Relevance of cardiac autonomic neuropathy has not been fully recognized and there is no standardized treatment protocol. Aim: To evaluate the effects of alpha-lipoic acid on the beat-to-beat vectorcardiographic parameters, namely spatial QRS-T angle, QT dispersion (QTd) and corrected QT interval (QTc) in type 2 diabetes mellitus persons with cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Research designs and methods: Our study involved 33 persons with defnite stage of cardiac autonomic neuropathy and diabetes mellitus type 2, which were assigned to each of two groups: one took standard antihyperglycaemic treatment (n=15, control group) and the other (n=18) in addition to standard therapy - 600 mg of alpha-lipoic acid daily for three months. The analysis of vectorcardiographic parameters was performed. Results: It was found out that alpha-lipoic acid contributed to decrease of the vectorcardiographic parameters, namely QRS-T angle, QTd and QTc. Conclusions: The positive influences of alpha-lipoic acid suggest the usefulness of its prescription to type 2 diabetes mellitus persons with definite stage of cardiac autonomic neuropathy. The effcacy of alpha-lipoic acid is the result of its direct effect on the parameters of vectorcardiography. Keywords: Alpha-lipoic acid Cardiac autonomic neuropathy Corrected QT interval Spatial QRS-T angle Type 2 diabetes mellitus 1. Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a non-infectious illness with worldwide increasing prevalence. DM and state of chro- nic insulin resistance are associated with the development and progression of nervous and cardiovascular diseas- es. The pivotal role of chronic diabetic complications deve-lopment plays oxidative stress (OS), which is caused by an imbalance between accumulation and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Development of chronic hyperglycaemia is associated with endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity impairment and increasement of ROS production, thus resulting in diminished bioavailability of nitric oxide and increased OS [1-3] . Development of cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) among patients with DM often causes heart rate control abnormalities and defects in vascular dynamics. Persons with decreased parasympathetic activity have a higher resting state heart rates due to development of vagal neu- ropathy that results in unopposed increased sympathetic outfow. Subjects with affection of both parasympathe-tic and sympathetic parts of autonomic nervous system *Corresponding Author: Victoria Serhiyenko, Department of Endocrinology, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, 79010, Ukraine; Email: serhiyenkoa@gmail.com