In mammals, ALA is synthesized by mitochondria lipoic acid synthase (LASY), which can be downregulated in different clinical conditions, such as diabetes.55 ALA and/or its reduced form, dihydrolipoic acid, have many biochemical functions; they act as biological antioxidants (such as metal chelators), which reduce the oxidized forms of other antioxidant agents (such as vitamin C and E and glutathion), and module the signalling transduction of several pathways (such as insulin and nuclear factor kappa B).51 This evidence concerns the gene INS and diabetes mellitus.