What is the difference between cla and ala

The cis form consists of a lower melting point. Besides, the conjugated linoleic acid plays an important role as a dietary supplement due to its various health benefits.

The main health benefit of the conjugated linoleic acid is its role in weight loss. A combination of conjugated linoleic acid and aerobic exercises can improve muscle power, muscle endurance, breathing, and fatigue.

Apart from that, conjugated linoleic acid is effective for high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, breast cancer, and, allergies. Linoleic acid refers to a polyunsaturated fatty acid present as a triglyceride in linseed oil and other oils and essential in the human diet while conjugated linoleic acid refers to any of the several isomers of linoleic acid characterized by conjugated double bonds and are found in various foods.

Hence, this is the basic difference between linoleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid. The main difference between linoleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid is their double bonds. The double bonds of linoleic acid are not conjugated while the double bonds of the conjugated linoleic acid are conjugated. Another major difference between linoleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid is that the linoleic acid occurs in cis configuration while the conjugated linoleic acid occurs in both cis and trans configurations.

Linoleic acid is one of the two essential fatty acids required by the body, while the conjugated linoleic acid is a dietary supplement for weight loss. Chemotherapy of Amanita phalloides poisoning with intravenous silibinin. Hum Exp Toxicol. Ibrahimpasic K. Alpha lipoic acid and glycaemic control in diabetic neuropathies at type 2 diabetes treatment. Med Arh. Lynch MA. Lipoic acid confers protection against oxidative injury in non-neuronal and neuronal tissue.

Nutr Neurosci. Effects of dietary supplementation of alpha-lipoic acid on early glomerular injury in diabetes mellitus. J Am Soc Nephrol. Alpha-lipoic acid attenuates hyperglycemia and prevents glomerular mesangial matrix expansion in diabetes.

Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; Effect of transdermal testosterone or alpha-lipoic acid on erectile dysfunction and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Folia Med Plovdiv. Lipoic acid improves nerve blood flow, reduces oxidative stress, and improves distal nerve conduction in experimental diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes Care. Molecular aspects of lipoic acid in the prevention of diabetes complications. Neuroprotection by the metabolic antioxidant alpha-linoic acis.

Free Radic Biol Med. Alpha-lipoic acid as a biological antioxidant. Free Rad Bio Med. Alpha-Lipoic acid protects against reperfusion injury following cerebral ischemia in rats. Brain Res. Effect of alpha-lipoic acid on the peripheral conversion of thyroxine to triiodothyronine and on serum lipid-, protein- and glucose levels. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of alpha-lipoic acid in experimentally induced acute otitis media.

J Laryngol Otol. Flaxseed oil and alpha-lipoic acid combination ameliorates hepatic oxidative stress and lipid accumulation in comparison to lard. Lipids Health Dis. CLA has also been studied extensively in randomized controlled trials, the gold standard of scientific experimentation in humans — though with mixed results. Some studies indicate that CLA can cause significant fat loss in humans.

It may also improve body composition by reducing body fat and increasing muscle mass 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , However, many studies show no effect at all 26 , 27 , In a review of 18 controlled trials, CLA was found to cause modest fat loss The effects are most pronounced during the first six months, after which fat loss plateaus for up to two years. According to this paper, CLA can cause an average fat loss of 0. Another review gathered that CLA caused about 3 pounds 1.

While these weight loss effects may be statistically significant, they are small — and there is potential for side effects. Though CLA supplements are linked to fat loss, the effects are small, unreliable and unlikely to make a difference in everyday life. Many long-term observational studies have assessed disease risk in people who consume larger amounts of CLA.

Notably, people who get a lot of CLA from foods are at a lower risk of various diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cancer 31 , 32 , Additionally, studies in countries where cows predominantly eat grass — rather than grain — show that people with the most CLA in their bodies have a lower risk of heart disease However, this lower risk could also be caused by other protective components in grass-fed animal products, such as vitamin K2.

Of course, grass-fed beef and dairy products are healthy for various other reasons. Many studies show that people who eat the most CLA have improved metabolic health and a lower risk of many diseases. However, the CLA found in supplements is made by chemically altering linoleic acid from vegetable oils. They are usually of a different form than the CLA found naturally in foods. Supplemental doses are also much higher than the amounts people get from dairy or meat. Supplementation of 3. The CLA supplementation increases oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers in obese men [ 60 ].

Oxidative stress seems closely related to induced insulin resistance, which suggests a link between the FA-induced lipid peroxidation; these unfavorable effects of CLA might be of clinical relevance with regard to CVD [ 60 ]. Recently, Shadman et al. In non-diabetic abdominally obese men, 3. These results are of clinical interest, as hyperproinsulinaemia predicts diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

But, the isomeric mixture of 9- and CLA 3. Sixteen individuals age, Clinical studies regarding the anti-diabetic effects of CLA are inconclusive. Rather, some of them speculated the reduction in insulin sensitivity; which attract immediate attention of the medical practitioners, because the increased consumption of CLA through dietary supplements might be ill-advised.

It seems that the use of weight-loss supplements containing 9-CLA, CLA or both as mixture is worrying, because most of the clinical studies presented in the previous sections provide mostly neutral or inconclusive results with very few favorable impacts Table 5.

In association with this, a few studies reported some adverse effects such as oxidative stress, insulin resistance, gastrointestinal irritation, etc. Many studies showed increase in the plasma concentration of CLA, which was directly proportional to the quantity of CLA consumed [ 23 , ].

Therefore, the immediate expected biological effect is oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the reflection of an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and the ability of the body system to readily detoxify them or to repair the resulting damage imparted to cell components like proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. Prolonged oxidative stress may lead to cancer and heart diseases [ ].

Supplementation with CLA dramatically increased the rates of oxidative stress, to the levels considerably higher than that observed in heavy smokers [ 60 ]; it also enhanced the release of inflammatory biomarkers in obese men [ 60 ]. Long-term CLA supplementation studies lasting for one and two years have found to be well tolerated, but there was an increase in circulatory markers of inflammation such as CRP, TNFs, and ILs [ 59 , ].

Changes in these markers of inflammation and oxidative stress could be related to the increase in insulin resistance associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease [ 79 , ]. Administration of CLA 4. Insulin resistance is a physiological disorder, under which the cells fail to respond to the normal actions of the hormone insulin, though it is sufficiently produced by the body — this impairment leads to hyperglycemia i.

Decreased sensitivity or resistance towards insulin upon consumption of CLA was observed in some studies [ 60 , 65 ]. Furthermore, insulin resistance is closely related to the impairment decrease of the expression of glucose transporter-4 GLUT4 , a membrane transporter of glucose. It was proven beyond doubt that CLA decreases the expression of GLUT4 [ ], which shows that indiscriminate use of CLA to treat obesity would lead to type 2 diabetes as the immediate side effect, this would further damage blood vessels and thereby increased risk of CVD [ ].

Moreover, unutilized insulin due to resistance in plasma can contribute to increased appetite especially for carbohydrates and sugary foods , which would add to the gravity of CVD. A few studies showed mild irritations of intestinal tract such as irritation [ 60 ], laxative effects and flatulence [ 47 ], gas bloating [ 20 ], indigestion, diarrhea and nausea [ 36 , 48 ] in subjects consumed CLA. Most of these effects were considered as mild to moderate and were transient; and one may assume that these effects may be due to the capsule material or the oily nature of the substance or initial adaptive problem with the lipid nutrient.

Consumption of commercial CLA reduced the fat content in cows [ ]. Since milk is the only source of nutrients for infants, decreased milk fat in lactating humans is another concern regarding the CLA consumption.

Masters et al. However, another two human studies found no changes in milk fat or protein [ , ], but in these studies, the intervention period was too short about a wk to arrive at a conclusive result. General view on CLAs is that the 10 - CLA exerts specific effects on adipocytes and liver, whereas both the 9- and CLAs appear to be active in inhibiting carcinogenesis [ 14 ].

It is likely that the inconsistent and often contradictory results on the effectiveness of CLA consumption in human health could be the outcome of a number of factors, including differences in subject groups, age, quantity and duration of CLA intake, composition of CLA mixture, purity of CLA, acceptance of the CLA by the body, food intake, gender and racial differences, genetic polymorphism and also the executed measurements parameters studied for assessing the effect.

Moreover, crucial factors that impact research outcomes include the nature of control supplement placebo , and study design cross-over vs. Determination of a normal CLA content in the blood plasma could help in estimating if a person consumes satisfactory amounts of CLA with the diet, and thus takes advantage of its potential beneficial effects on health. The only CLA isomer that appears in higher percentage than the detection limit 0.

The duration of this study was 6 months, and in the last group who consumed CLA supplement, the average CLA content in plasma was 0. The blood samples were collected for analysis in the morning in the fasted state after a 12 h restriction for meal and drinks.

Thus, individuals who have 9-CLA levels in their blood plasma within the range up to 0. In most of the clinical studies, vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, olive oil, safflower oil and soybean oil Table 2 have been used as placebo in the form of capsules or pills [ 49 , 66 , 90 ].

In fact, the proportion of MUFA and PUFA, especially LA present in these placebo oils for instance, the predominantly used sunflower and olive oils are not properly addressed by the researchers.

However, non-ruminal bacteria inhabiting human gastro-intestinal GI tract like Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. In addition to 9-CLA, Lactobacillus spp. From this, it is evident that a portion of LA in placebo oil would be biohydogenated by the bacteria residing in GI tract as in rumen into CLA through the mediation of VA. Irrespective of this fact, most of the clinical studies use the aforesaid vegetable oils as placebo, neglecting their effects on human health; especially their supposed supplementary and complementary effects.

The dietary intake of the precursor VA was found to have some major effects on heart health, blood lipid profile and immunity, and also protective against fatal ischemic heart disease [ — ]. This would lead to the misinterpretation of the results, i. Therefore, during clinical studies, the composition of FA in placebo and its effects on human health need to be addressed with due respect, and independently for getting reliable results.

The clinical studies with CLA lack a common protocol for selecting the subjects. Description of the subjects including gender and age, medical treatments given prior to intervention are the critical factors to be considered while selecting the subjects. Medical history of the subjects should also be recorded before concluding the safety and efficacy concerns of CLA consumption.

In most of the studies, the subjects selected were categorized and designated as normal, healthy obese, with metabolic syndrome, with insulin resistance, etc. This arbitrary classification for the convenience of the investigator poses a question i. Is it with the designation normal, obese, immune-compromised subjects with metabolic syndrome or with other diseases? Another factor to be considered in clinical studies is the continental, racial and gender differences among the subjects; for instance, literature shows that most of the clinical studies on CLA were performed in North America and Europe.

The reproducibility of such results in racially and continently separated populations all over the world, especially in Asia, Africa and South America is another point of concern, which has to be verified before accepting the nutritional status of CLA in modulating biological functions.

Other factors of concern are the composition, dosage and duration of CLA consumption. Generally, human studies use a CLA mixture about of 9- and CLAs; and proportion of CLA isomers depends mainly on the nature of substrate, mode of synthesis production , physico-chemical parameters involved in synthesis, and purification strategies adopted [ , ].

Most of clinical studies evaluated the effects of CLA consumption for a short period, usually of 4—12 wk. But Gaullier et al. Generally, in these studies, CLA isomer or mixture dosages varied from 0. The dosage of CLA administration in humans is also very low, compared to animal studies in terms of body weight ; thus the results in pre-clinical animal studies high dose may not be comparable with the real clinical studies.

Therefore, CLA dose intake may be considered based on energy percentage. Two people with the same body weight may have a very different body composition e. Another crucial question is the retention of the so-called good effects for a long time; of course, one might expect that CLA should be consumed as if drugs are taken for chronic diseases.

Unlike in mechanistic in vitro studies, the criss-crossed signaling pathway through which CLA induce its effects has to be elucidated clearly in clinical studies.

Moreover, the biological effects of individual CLA isomers, mainly 9- and CLA, their synergistic interactions and even the possible opposition between the isomers have to be unveiled. Effect of CLA consumption along with various adjuncts is another area of clinical research that has to be studied evidently.

Some studies showed the positive health benefits of CLA are related to heart health and body fat reduction on consumption along with calcium, VA, whey proteins and oryzanol [ 49 , 68 , ]. As far as the voluminous literature on CLA is concerned, only a few studies to date examined the effects of CLA in humans in vivo. However, results of these studies do not reflect the dramatic and consistent data demonstrated in animal studies. Thus, these disappointing results in humans demand more precise experimentations with humans.

The interest in CLA research still persists, and hence, many questions related to the safety and efficacy on the consumption CLA have to be answered scientifically. Hence, it is imperative to critically evaluate and consolidate prominent findings on human consumption of CLA, i. One of the major limitations in human studies is that most of the studies depend only on the blood cells or plasma, and fat deposition.

Thus, majority of the clinical studies failed to provide conclusive evidences for the effectiveness of CLA on human health, except for anti-obesitic properties which offered a little hope to prevent body weight regain though fat deposition, nevertheless increased oxidative stress and insulin resistance due to such over-consumption of CLA poses contradictory concerns. Moreover, age, gender, genetic polymorphism and immune status of the subject, role of other nutrients present in the diet, and extend of absorption of individual isomers to different tissues have to be well addressed during the intervention period — so as to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CLA consumption on human health.

As far as human consumption of CLA is concerned, a definite conclusion for safety and efficacy has not been reached yet. At this context, we strongly recommend the need for more precise and well-designed long-term intervention studies with controlled food intake and activity level to assess the effectiveness of CLA on human health. Moreover, such studies need to be duplicated in other laboratories giving emphasis to men and women, age group, ethnic background, food style, continental and even national uniqueness, cultural and geographic barriers, etc.

In toto , clinical evidences indicate a possible link of supplemental CLA per se toward negative or inconclusive outcomes; thus, inclusion of CLA in the Codex Alimentarius Book of Food — which describes internationally recognized standards of food — may be considered.

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