Indication for nutritional supplementation, also for treating dietary shortage or imbalance.mechanism of action lipoic acid is generally involved in oxidative decarboxylations of keto acids and is presented as a growth factor for some organisms. lipoic acid exists as two enantiomers, the r-enantiomer and the s-enantiomer. normally only the r-enantiomer of an amino acid is biologically active, but for lipoic acid the s-enantiomer assists in the reduction of the r-enantiomer when a racemic mixture is given. some recent studies have suggested that the s-enantiomer in fact has an inhibiting effect on the r-enantiomer, reducing its biological activity substantially and actually adding to oxidative stress rather than reducing it. furthermore, the s-enantiomer has been found to reduce the expression of glut-4s in cells, responsible for glucose uptake, and hence reduce insulin sensitivity.