Antioxidants Supplementation in Acute Amitriptyline Abuse for Pain

The fundamental aim of this study is to establish the role of antioxidant supplementation in alleviating acute amitriptyline induced oxidative stress. The effect of supplementation was compared on treatment of acute amitriptyline intoxication cases for pain management, with alpha lipoic acid (ALA) alone or with vitamin C, with that of healthy individuals (group I), and those receiving only routine standard treatment (RST) as control (group II). A total of 132 human subjects divided into 5 groups were supplemented with either placebo, RST, RST with vitamin C, RST with ALA, or RST with vitamin C, and ALA. Results of this study revealed that the decrease in the level of oxidative stress and enzyme activity was observed among those supplemented with either alpha lipoic acid alone or along with vitamin C, with a slightly more decrease in the latter group. P value of < 0.001 was considered statistically significant. The percentage of benefit of treatment on supplementation with vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid showed a marked increase in group V cases after supplementation with both in combination. The results provided that the oxidative stress induced by acute amitriptyline poisoning is comparatively decreased by supplementation with antioxidants like alpha lipoic acid and vitamin C, than those only on routine standard treatment.