Risk/benefit assessment The insertion of intravenous cannula may cause mild and transient pain. A minor hematoma may occur at the site of cannula insertion. The insertion of the intraarterial cannula is performed under local anaesthesia and causes mild pain. The meassurement of forearm bloodflow, espacialy the wrist cuff (>200 mmHG) may be uncomfortably. Local administration of drugs through a needle in the brachial artery allows the study of direct vascular effects of the drugs. Drug doses are 100 to 1000 times lower than a systemic effective dose, therefore no systemic adverse events are expected. There is experience in brachial artery infusions at our institution, and it is considered a safe technique. α-lipoic acid was well tolerated in healthy volunteers and subjects with diabetes at doses up to 600 mg intravenously and 1800 mg orally with side effects comparable with placebo. Altogether 50 ml blood will be collected throughout the study.