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Coenzyme Q10—Life Giving Energy at the Cellular Level

CoQ10 also fights heart disease … Alzheimer’s … and other deadly diseases.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard about the supplement Coenzyme Q10—also known as CoQ10 or ubiquinone. Maybe you heard about its tremendous health benefits from health magazines, or on TV, or even from friends.

And these health benefits are very real and have been well documented in peer-reviewed medical literature. But still, not nearly enough people are taking advantage of this amazing dietary supplement. If you are over the age of 40 or are taking a statin drug, CoQ10 simply MUST be a part of your supplementation program.   Read on to find out why …

Your body’s natural “perpetual energy” machine

The common currency of all life is energy. Nothing happens without energy. The simplest one celled amoeba needs energy to survive … your cells, you don’t breathe. You don’t think. You don’t play. Without cellular energy, you die.

Your body produces energy inside tiny, specialized energy-generating structures in the cell called mitochondria. (The singular is “mitochondrion.”)
Mitochondria produce energy by taking a molecule of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and chopping off one of the three phosphate groups. This makes adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and releases a lot of energy for the cell—and ultimately for the rest of your body.

When this reaction is over, the cell has some ADP and a phosphate group left over. These molecules would be waste products if it weren’t for a clever recycling system involving CoQ10.

CoQ10 works with an enzyme in the mitochondria to reattach the phosphate to the ADP. This produces ATP once again. And the cycle starts over. It’s like a perpetual energy process … as long as there is energy put into the system (in the form of food) and CoQ10.

One happy consequence of CoQ10’s part in this recycling is that it becomes a powerful antioxidant in the process.

So as you can see, CoQ10 is crucial in the energy cycle in your cell. Without it, your cells produce no energy … and there is no life.

Once scientists understood this critical role CoQ10 plays in cells, they began looking at CoQ10 levels in people with serious diseases like heart failure, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. What they found—while not surprising—had tremendous impact.

Coenzyme Q10 and the mitochondrial theory of disease and aging

It’s natural to want to find the causes of life-threatening diseases. If we know the causes—the reasoning goes—we can do something to protect ourselves.

For many years, “exogenous” or outside causes were primary suspects. For example, tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Yellow fever by the yellow fever virus. Polio by poliovirus. And measles by rubeola virus.

It all fit nicely … until the killers of modern life came under scrutiny. What causes heart disease? High cholesterol perhaps. Then why do over half the men who have heart attacks have perfectly normal cholesterol?

Cancers present even deeper puzzles about their origins. Are they caused by radiation … or pollution … or viruses … or some other, yet-to-be-discovered agent? And why do some people get these diseases while others—in similar environments and circumstances—get away free from them?

So scientists at the forefront of disease research have been looking inside the human body for causes of the modern-day killers. They’re looking all the way inside the cell right down to the mitochondria.

CoQ10 research has provided insight into pathways modern diseases use to gain a foothold in your body. It works like this: Patients with serious life-shortening diseases like heart failure, cancers, neurological diseases, and a host of other conditions have lower CoQ10 levels.1

This makes sense when viewed in the context of your body’s need for energy for all its systems to work at peak performance … especially the immune system.

An immune system depleted of energy is an immune system that cannot protect your cells from attack … attack by environmental toxins, viruses, carcinogens, LDL cholesterol, and free radicals.

This discovery of reduced CoQ10 levels in sick people launched another line of research looking at CoQ10 as a possible supplement to ease the severity and effects of these diseases. The results are astonishing.

Now, before we talk specifically about the findings, I’d like you to consider the implications this research has on you … even if you’re the “healthiest person on the block.”

About the only way researchers have to study effects a supplement has on preventing a disease in humans is to see how research subjects with the disease respond to it. There is no ethical way to administer a supplement like CoQ10 to a healthy person and then trying to cause the disease in them.

“An immune system depleted of energy is an immune system that cannot protect your cells from attack …”

So by studying the positive effects of CoQ10 on sick subjects—as well as looking at animal studies—let us draw rational conclusions about how CoQ10 could provide protection against those same diseases.

Please, keep this vital piece of your health puzzle in mind as we go on.

How CoQ10 battles a rogues’ gallery of today’s most deadly killers

Heart failure and cardiovascular diseases

The number one killer in America today? Heart disease. And some of the earliest research on Coenzyme Q10—as well as some of the most recent—has centered on heart disease—with a special focus on congestive heart failure.

Because cardiac cells have a huge energy requirement, healthy heart tissue has a high concentration of CoQ10. On the other hand, diseased heart tissue has been shown to have significantly lowered levels of CoQ10.

These levels are especially depressed in the case of congestive heart failure.2 The severity of heart failure correlates directly with the severity of CoQ10 deficiency. 3

Since the early 1980’s—when CoQ10 became readily available in large enough quantities to use in clinical tests—numerous studies have demonstrated its ability to improve heart function. One of the most significant trials was a multicenter study in Italy.

This study involved a total of 2,664 patients with congestive heart failure diagnosed at least 6 months prior to the study. The patients were administered between 50 and 150 mg of CoQ10 orally, with 78% receiving 100 mg/day.4

The results showed unequivocally that the patients had fewer symptoms and better response to testing after three months of treatment.

These results are borne out by another Italian study, this one a yearlong, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of 641 patients. In this study, the researchers concluded:

“Our results demonstrate that the addition of coenzyme Q10 to conventional therapy significantly reduces hospitalization for worsening of heart failure and the incidence of serious complications in patients with chronic congestive heart failure.”5

Statin Drugs and CoQ10

One aspect of heart disease treatment and CoQ10 that is disturbing is the use of statins to lower serum cholesterol levels.

In 1990, noted cardiologist and authority on CoQ10, Doctor Peter Langsjoen, MD, FACC, published a study on the safety of statin drugs in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Dr. Langsjoen explained that the mechanism by which statin drugs lower cholesterol also inhibits the natural biosynthesis of coenzyme Q10 in the liver.

Dr. Langsjoen conducted these studies because—in his words—“if lovastatin were to reduce levels of coenzyme Q10, this reduction would constitute a new risk of cardiac disease [emphasis added], since it is established that coenzyme Q10 is indispensable for cardiac function.”

“The clinical experience with CoQ10 in heart failure is nothing short of dramatic, and it is reasonable to believe that the entire field of medicine should be re-evaluated in light of this growing knowledge. ”

Dr. Langsjoen supported his concerns by reporting his own and other animal and human studies. These studies showed that lovastatin does lower levels of coenzyme Q10. He then went on to describe case histories of his lovastatin patients who suffered from progressive cardiac degeneration, but whose heart function improved after oral administration of coenzyme Q10.6

In a review article describing the effectiveness of CoQ10, Dr. Langsjoen stated:

“The clinical experience with CoQ10 in heart failure is nothing short of dramatic, and it is reasonable to believe that the entire field of medicine should be re-evaluated in light of this growing knowledge. We have only scratched the surface of the biomedical and clinical applications of CoQ10 and the associated fields of bioenergetics and free radical chemistry.”7

It is important to note that in the studies on heart disease and CoQ10 medical therapy including drug therapy was augmented by CoQ10 treatment. CoQ10 is not proposed as a replacement.

And also note that Dr. Langsjoen is not saying that statins should not be used. His concern about statin drugs is that they inhibit CoQ10
biosynthesis and yet there is no attempt by the medical establishment to fix the situation by recommending CoQ10.

CoQ10’s health-promoting power doesn’t stop at heart disease

CoQ10’s ability to relieve the symptoms of heart disease and to improve the daily lives of people suffering from it is nothing short of amazing. And when you consider how important high cellular energy is to good cellular and immune system health, it’s not surprising that low CoQ10 levels play a significant role in other diseases as well.8

The good news in this picture is that supplementation with CoQ10 appears to improve the effectiveness of traditional medical treatment as well as improving the quality of life for the patients.

Breast and other cancers

Clinical trials examining the relationship between CoQ10 and breast cancer have demonstrated reduced CoQ10 levels in women with breast cancer and with pre-cancerous lesions. One French study found a positive correlation between the intensity of the CoQ10 deficiency and the bad prognosis of the disease.9

Another study conducted in Denmark followed 32 patients with breast cancer, aged 32-81 years. These women were classified ‘high risk’ because of tumor spread to the lymph nodes.

The women were studied for 18 months following standard surgical and therapeutic treatment with added nutritional treatment consisting of antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and Coenzyme Q10 (90 mg per day).

The main observations in this study were: 1) None of the patients died during the study period. The expected number was four. 2) None of the patients showed signs of further distant metastases. 3) Quality of life was improved (no weight loss, reduced use of painkillers). 4) Six patients showed apparent partial remission.10

“… ubiquinone [CoQ10] supplementation in breast cancer could be relevant.”

While there are no studies confirming that CoQ10 prevents or remedies breast or other cancers, the supplement improves quality of life for the patients. And according to the French study previously cited: “[As an antioxidant] ubiquinone [CoQ10] supplementation in breast cancer could be relevant [in the treatment of breast cancer.]”

Other life-threatening conditions helped by CoQ10

Since the 1980’s, researchers have studied the positive effects CoQ10 brings to a wide range of life-threatening conditions. However, funding for long-term research on supplements in general—including CoQ10—is hard to come by.

Pharmaceutical companies or the government fund most health care research. And funding from government agencies or universities often carries a taint of influence by pharmaceutical companies.

These multinational giants have a stake in not investigating low cost, natural alternatives to drugs they’ve spent billions developing. It’s no wonder research on CoQ10 and its abilities to mitigate the effects of diseases is so limited.

That said, research into CoQ10 and the diseases and conditions shown in Table 1 shows great promise. Please note that the results are presented as only a sampling of many more clinical studies.

CoQ10 and aging … a dietary fountain of youth?

CoQ10 is produced naturally in your cells. In fact, it is the only lipid-soluble antioxidant synthesized in our bodies. Although the relative tissue distribution of CoQ10 varies, the highest concentrations are found in liver, heart, muscle, kidney, and brain.

Healthy, young people synthesize enough CoQ10 on their own without needing supplementation. However, synthesis in your body naturally slows down as you age.

The less CoQ10 available to your cells, the less energy your cells have to power all aspects of your life. Severe CoQ10 deficiency can result in enzyme defects, and muscular and organ dysfunction and serious disease consequences.

However, this problem is greatly improved by CoQ10 supplementation. A recent study showed that oral supplementation of CoQ10 in animals for two months increased muscle and brain levels of CoQ10 in old animals but not in young ones. Interestingly, the extent of uptake correlates with the degree of tissue deficiency.20

The research we’ve just reviewed gives a hint of CoQ10’s potential health benefits. And we haven’t yet discussed its role as a powerful antioxidant.

Dr. Langsjoen summarizes CoQ10’s antioxidant prowess this way:

“The antioxidant or free radical quenching properties of CoQ10 serve to greatly reduce oxidative damage to tissues as well as significantly inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (much more efficiently than vitamin E).”21

CoQ10 also restores the antioxidant power of vitamin E.22 When vitamin E disables a free radical, it becomes a short-lived free radical itself. It doesn’t survive in this state long enough to cause damage. But it loses its antioxidant power unless some other molecule regenerates it.

CoQ10 fills this role very effectively as part of the ATP-ADP Cycle we discussed earlier.

Clinically proven safe … and effective

CoQ10 has been shown to be safe in all the clinical studies cited in this report—and more. However, there have been very few studies on the safety of prolonged, extremely high dosages (above 1,000 mg/day). So it is not possible to comment on the long-term safety in healthy people taking these doses.

However, dosages in the 10 mg to 100 mg/dose range, 3 times a day—typical amounts for CoQ10—are well-tolerated and demonstrated as safe and effective time and again.

Bottom line recommendations …

As we age, our CoQ10 levels naturally drop. These levels are also reduced by disease, stress, diet, and other factors not yet understood. In addition, clinical evidence shows that cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins inhibit the body’s biosynthesis of CoQ10.23

So if you fall into any of these categories, you should begin supplementation with CoQ10.

Doing this provides strong support for your cellular powerhouses—the mitochondria. When you’re able to restore your mitochondria to their proper level of energy production, your body can harness its natural healing power.
And don’t forget, CoQ10 is also a powerful antioxidant—stronger even than vitamin E (which it supports in vitamin E’s role as antioxidant).

“So if you fall into any of these categories, you should begin supplementation with CoQ10.”

The ideal dosage of CoQ10 is 30 mg, taken three times a day with meals.
One bit of advice: Because CoQ10 works by harnessing your body’s natural health-protecting/promoting systems, it takes a while to work. It is not an “Instant Miracle.”

You will probably see the first changes in the way you feel or in your over all energy level in a couple of weeks. But long-term health changes will take several months.

But this kind of health—health that comes from inside … from your body’s natural systems … that’s safe and sustainable—is well worth
the wait.

References

1. Langsjoen, PH. Introduction to Coenzyme Q10.
   http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/coenzq10.html
   
   
2. Folkers K., Vadhanavikit S., Mortensen S.A. Biochemical rationale and myocardial tissue data on the effective therapy of cardiomyopathy with coenzyme Q10. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U.S.A., vol. 82(3), pp 901-904. (1985).
   Abstract
   
   
3. Mortensen S.A., Vadhanavikit S., Folkers K. Deficiency of coenzyme Q10 in myocardial failure. Drugs Exptl. Clin. Res. X(7) 497-502. (1984).
   
   
4. Baggio E, Gandini R, Plancher AC, Passeri M, Carmosino G., Italian multicenter study on the safety and efficacy of coenzyme Q10 as adjunctive therapy in heart failure. CoQ10 Drug Surveillance Investigators. Mol Aspects Med. 1994;15 Suppl:s287-94.
   Abstract
   
   
5. Morisco, C.; Trimarco, B.; and Condorelli, M. Effect of coenzyme Q10 therapy in patients with congestive heart failure: a long-term multicenter randomized study. Journal of Molecular Medicine, Volume 71, Supplement 8, August, 1993.
   Abstract
   
   
6. Folkers K, Langsjoen P, Willis R, et al. Lovastatin decreases coenzyme Q levels in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Nov;87(22):8931-4.
   Abstract
   
   
7. Langsjoen, PH. Introduction to Coenzyme Q10.
   http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/coenzq10.html
   
   
8. Langsjoen, PH. Introduction to Coenzyme Q10.
   http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/coenzq10.html
   
   
9. Jolliet P, Simon N, Barré J, Pons JY, Boukef M, Paniel BJ, Tillement JP. Plasma coenzyme Q10 concentrations in breast cancer: prognosis and therapeutic consequences. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1998 Sep;36(9):506-9.
   Abstract
   
   
10. Lockwood K, Moesgaard S, Hanioka T, Folkers K. Apparent partial remission of breast cancer in ‘high risk’ patients supplemented with nutritional antioxidants, essential fatty acids and coenzyme Q10. Mol Aspects Med. 1994;15 Suppl:s231-40.
    Abstract
    
    
11. Singh RB, Niaz MA, Rastogi SS, Shukla PK, Thakur AS. Effect of hydrosoluble coenzyme Q10 on blood pressures and insulin resistance in hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease. J Hum Hypertens. 1999;13(3):203-208.
    Abstract
    
    
12. Turunen M, Wehlin L, Sjoberg M, et al. beta2-Integrin and lipid modifications indicate a non-antioxidant mechanism for the anti-atherogenic effect of dietary coenzyme Q10. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2002;296(2):255-260.
    Abstract
    
    
13. Tran MT, Mitchell TM, Kennedy DT, Giles JT. Role of coenzyme Q10 in chronic heart failure, angina, and hypertension. Pharmacotherapy. 2001;21(7):797-806.
    Abstract
    
    
14. Shults CW, Oakes D, Kieburtz K, et al. Effects of coenzyme q10 in early Parkinson disease: evidence of slowing of the functional decline. Arch Neurol. 2002;59(10):1541-1550.
    Abstract
    
    
15. Sándor, MD, P. S. et al. Efficacy of coenzyme Q10 in migraine prophylaxis: A randomized controlled trial. Neurology 2005;64:713-715.
    Abstract
    
    
16. Gaby, Alan R. Coenzyme Q10 for chronic renal failure. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Oct, 2005.
    
    
17. Ishrata, Tauheed, et al. Coenzyme Q10 modulates cognitive impairment against intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin in rats Behavioural Brain Research. Volume 171, Issue 1, 15 July 2006, Pages 9-16.
    Abstract
    
    
18. Hodgson, J.M., et al., Coenzyme Q10 improves blood pressure and glycaemic control: a controlled trial in subjects with type 2 diabetes. Eur J Clin Nutr, 2002. 56(11): p. 1137-42.
    Abstract
    
    
19. Hanioka T, Tanaka M, Ojima M, Shizukuishi S, Folkers K. Effect of topical application of coenzyme Q10 on adult periodontitis. Mol Aspects Med. 1994;15 Suppl:s241-8.
    Abstract
    
    
20. Roland Stocker, Ph.D. Possible Health Benefits of Coenzyme Q10. Linus Pauling Institute.
    
    
21. Bowry V.W., Mohr D., Cleary J., Stocker R. (1995) Prevention of tocopherol-mediated peroxidation in ubiquinol-10-free human low density lipoprotein. J Biol Chem 1995 Mar 17;270(11):5756-63.
    Abstract
    
    
22. Ingold K.U., Bowry V.W., Stocker R., Walling C. (1993) Autoxidation of lipids and antioxidation by alpha-tocopherol and ubiquinol in homogeneous solution and in aqueous dispersions of lipids: unrecognized consequences of lipid particle size as exemplified by oxidation of human low density lipoprotein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 1993 Jan 1;90(1):45-9.
    Abstract
    
    
23. References quoted in: Langsjoen, PH. Introduction to Coenzyme Q10.
    http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/coenzq10.html
    
    
24. Roland Stocker, Ph.D. Possible Health Benefits of Coenzyme Q10. Linus Pauling Institute.
    
    
25. Bliznakov, Emile G. M.D. Wilkins, Ph.D. David J. Biochemical and Clinical Consequences of Inhibiting Coenzyme Q10 Biosynthesis by Lipid-Lowering HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (Statins): A Critical Overview. Presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism, Florence, Italy, May 30-June 3, 1998.