Background: Polyneuropathy affects around 50% of type 2 diabetics during their lifetime. This condition produces pain, numbness, and tingling in the extremities. Diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) is difficult to treat due to its complicated aetiology, which involves oxidative stress, ischemia, and neuroinflammation. The aim of study is to evaluate the effect of thioctic acid oral supplement for polyneuropathy diabetic type 2 patients.

Method: Clinical trial single blind research will be undertaken on 90 diabetic type 2 polyneuropathy patients in Al-Najaf city. The first group will receive 600 mg of thioctic acid orally daily for 4 weeks. Second group gets placebo. Total symptom score also determines polyneuropathy symptoms (pain, burning, paresthesia, and numbness), sociodemographic data was taken from all patients. Patient permission will be obtained for the research.

Results: Patients in the study had a mean age of 52.5 ± 7 years, with a majority falling within the 40-59 age group. Sex distribution was nearly equal, with 51.1% females and 48.9% males. Most patients experienced mild pain (46.8%), mild burning sensation (36.7%), mild paresthesia (38.9%), and severe numbness (42.2%). Thionic treatment significantly reduced pain (90%), burning sensation (66.6%), paresthesia (55%), and numbness (100%) compared to no treatment or placebo, with no notable age or sex associations with these symptoms.

Conclusion: Thioctic acid demonstrates significant therapeutic efficacy in treating diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN), with substantial symptom reduction. Notably, most of patients on thioctic acid experienced painless DPN, and significant relief was observed for more than half burning sensations, half of patients had no paresthesia, and all patients had numbness. This benefits are inconsistent across age and sex, suggesting broad applicability.