CO Q10 (Coenzyme Q-10) Information and Benefits

coentyme 10 common/y known os co10 is o member of o fomi/y

of compounds co//ed ubiquinones ubiquinones ore woterinso/ub/e
substonces invo/ved in e/ectron tronsport ond enerqy production in the
mitochondrio of ce//s lt is be/ieve thot supp/emento/ co10 moy hove
cordioprotective cytoprotective ond neuroprotectlve uctlvltlex,
umong otherx.
coentyme 10 {cO 10) is found noturo//y throuqhout the humon
body 5mo// omounts of it ore obtoined from eotinq meot ond
seofood but the mojority is creoted direct/y by the body 4/thouqh
neor/y o// body ce//s moke it coentyme 10 is concentroted in the
musc/es ond in the heort /iver kidneys ond poncreos 4pproximote 50
percent of the bodys stores of coentyme 10 ore found in the
mitochondrio of the ce//s Mitochondrio ore components of ce//s thot
tronsform dietory corbohydrotes into enerqy whi/e coentyme 10 is
invo/ved in strenqtheninq body membrones its moin function is to
corry e/ectrons thot ore needed in the energy generutlon procexx.
lor individuo/s sufferinq from conqestive heort foi/ure irrequ/or
heortbeot or onqino coentyme 10 moy eose symptoms ond
improve cordioc function 5ome doctors o/so recommend it ofter heort
surqery to speed recovery with o minimum of permonent domoqe
5ome heo/th proctitioners contend thot coentyme 10 con stove off
hordeninq of the orteries by discouroqinq the bui/dup of p/oque on
ortery wo//s Others suqqest thot it con boost the immune system
he/pinq to prevent the spreod of concer lt hos o/so been
recommended for o host of odditiono/ disorders ronqinq from hiqh
b/ood pressure diobetes o//erqies ond fotique to 4/theimers diseose
8e//s po/sy nuntinqtons diseose Mnires diseose muscu/or
dystrophy ond deteriorotion of the retino nowever there is no
conc/usive c/inico/ evidence to support ltx uxe for thexe conJltlonx.
4 number of studies hove qone os for os to suqqest co10 os o usefu/
odjunctive theropy in the treotment of conqestive heort foi/ure co10
hos been opproved in lopon os druq for use in conqestive heort foi/ure
since the eor/y nineteen seventies 5evero/ studies hove shown o
stronq corre/otion between severity of heort Jlxeuxe unJ Coq
Jeflclency.
6iven its effect on the heort musc/e reseorchers hove studied co10
for possib/e effects it moy hove in peop/e with heort orrhythmios
whi/e most studies hove proven inconc/usive pre/iminory reseorch hos
reported improvement in diobetics with premoture ventricu/or beots -
u form of heurt urrhythmlu.
5ome reseorchers now be/ieve thot co10 moy o/so be usefu/ for
modu/otinq b/ood pressure 4 number of pre/iminory trio/s hove
reported thot co10 reduced b/ood pressure in individuo/s with
hypertension ofter obout 2 to 4 monthx of treutment.
co10 is o powerfu/ ontioxidont thot octs os o defense oqoinst free
rodico/s ond he/ps the humon body preserve vitomin the mojor
ontioxidont of b/ood cholexterol unJ cell membrunex.
co10 is obsorbed by the smo// intestine ond tronsferred into the
/ymphotics from there it enters the b/ood streom 4bsorption of
co10 is poor ln foct it is be/ieved thot over 0 of on oro/ dose of
co10 is excreted in the feces 4bsorption of co10 is hiqh/y voriob/e
ond depends in /orqe port on food intoke but o/so on the omount of
/ipids present in the food 4bsorption of co10 is /ower on on empty
stomoch ond qreoter when token with food of hiqh /ipid content 5ince
obsorption of co10 is poor hiqh quo/ity supp/emento/ co10 hos
been recommended for moximum potency


Factors affecting CoQ

levels
varlous facLors reduce Lhe concenLraLlon of CoC
10
ln dlfferenL organs
Lhe followlng are known
O Dse of sLaLlns reduce CoC
10
levels see below
O glng ln lndlvlduals older Lhan 20 years reduces CoC
10
levels ln
lnLernal organs
1316

O Dv exposure reduces CoC
10
levels ln Lhe skln

nbibition by statins and beta blockers
Coenzyme C
10
shares a common blosynLheLlc paLhway wlLh cholesLerol
1he synLhesls of an lnLermedlary precursor of coenzyme C
10

mevalonaLe ls lnhlblLed by some beLa blockers blood pressure
lowerlng medlcaLlon
18
and sLaLlns a class of cholesLerollowerlng
drugs
19
SLaLlns can reduce serum levels of coenzyme C
10
by up Lo
40
20
Some research suggesLs Lhe loglcal opLlon of supplemenLaLlon
wlLh coenzyme C
10
as a rouLlne ad[uncL Lo any LreaLmenL LhaL may
reduce endogenous producLlon of coenzyme C
10
based on a balance of
llkely beneflL agalnsL very small rlsk
Dosage and Adm|n|strat|on
SupplemenLal coenzyme C10 ls avallable ln capsule LableL sofLgel (gel
cap) and chewable form 1o lmprove lLs absorpLlon lL can be Laken
wlLh some Lype of oll (ollve oll ls recommended) or faL (peanuL buLLer
for example) MosL docLors recommend LhaL CoC10 be Laken wlLh
meals Lo lmprove absorpLlon
uosage recommendaLlons range from 30 mg Lo 300 mg a day Plgher
dally doses are usually assoclaLed wlLh a speclflc healLh condlLlon and
are ofLen dlvlded lnLo 2 or 3 smaller doses (for example one 30 mg
LableL Laken 2 Llmes a day lnsLead of a slngle 100 mllllgram LableL Laken
once) lf you are Laklng Lhe enzyme for a hearL condlLlon lL may be 2 Lo
8 weeks before you noLlce any beneflL and you wlll need Lo conLlnue
Laklng Lhe producL Lo malnLaln any noLable lmprovemenL
LffecLlveness lf any ls belleved Lo be obLalned wlLh doses of 30 Lo 200
mllllgrams dally
5oftqe/ copsu/es with co
10
in oi/ suspension
successful approach was Lo use Lhe emulslon sysLem Lo faclllLaLe
absorpLlon from Lhe gasLrolnLesLlnal LracL and Lo lmprove
bloavallablllLy Lmulslons of soybean oll (llpld mlcrospheres) could be
sLablllzed very effecLlvely by leclLhln and were uLlllzed ln Lhe
preparaLlon of sofL gelaLln capsules ln one of Lhe flrsL such aLLempLs
Czawa eL al performed a pharmacoklneLlc sLudy on beagle dogs ln
whlch Lhe emulslon of CoC
10
ln soybean oll was lnvesLlgaLed abouL Lwo
Llmes hlgher plasma CoC
10
level Lhan LhaL of Lhe conLrol LableL
preparaLlon was deLermlned durlng admlnlsLraLlon of a llpld
mlcrosphere lLhough an almosL negllglble lmprovemenL of
bloavallablllLy was observed by kommuru eL al wlLh ollbased sofLgel
capsules ln a laLer sLudy on dogs Lhe slgnlflcanLly lncreased
bloavallablllLy of CoC
10
was conflrmed for several ollbased
formulaLlons ln mosL oLher sLudles
ubiquino/ form
Slnce Lhe ublqulnol form has Lwo addlLlonal hydrogens lL resulLs ln Lhe
converslon of Lwo keLone groups lnLo hydroxyl groups on Lhe acLlve
porLlon of Lhe molecule 1hls causes an lncrease ln Lhe polarlLy of Lhe
CoC
10
molecule and may be a slgnlflcanL facLor behlnd Lhe observed
enhanced bloavallablllLy of ublqulnol Crally ublqulnol exhlblLs greaLer
bloavallablllLy Lhan ublqulnone one sLudy showed sub[ecLs lngesLlng
130 mg per day ublqulnol supplemenLaLlon dlsplayed peak values
wlLhln 28 days of 384 mcg/ml of plasma ddlLlonally research ln an
anlmal model lnvesLlgaLlng Lhe neuroproLecLlve effecLs of boLh forms of
CoC10 showed greaLer blood levels and lmproved efflcacy by ublqulnol
ln comparlson Lo ublqulnone
5upp/ementotion benefits
,|tochondr|a| d|sorders
SupplemenLaLlon of coenzyme C
10
ls a LreaLmenL for some of Lhe very
rare and serlous mlLochondrlal dlsorders and oLher meLabollc
dlsorders where paLlenLs are noL capable of produclng enough
coenzyme C
10
because of Lhelr dlsorder Coenzyme C
10
ls Lhen
prescrlbed by a physlclan
neart hea|th
Coenzyme C10 helps Lo malnLaln a healLhy cardlovascular sysLem
1here ls evldence of CoC10 deflclency ln hearL fallure 8ecenLly CoC10
plasma concenLraLlons have been demonsLraLed as an lndependenL
predlcLor of morLallLy ln chronlc hearL fallure CoC10 deflclency belng
deLrlmenLal Lo Lhe longLerm prognosls of chronlc hearL fallure CoC10
ls avallable as medlclne ln several Luropean counLrles buL ls ln Lhese
counLrles also avallable as a food supplemenL CxldaLlon of Lhe
clrculaLlng LuL ls LhoughL Lo play a key role ln Lhe paLhogenesls of
aLherosclerosls whlch ls Lhe underlylng dlsorder leadlng Lo hearL aLLack
and lschemlc sLrokes and CPu SLudles ln Lhe lasL decade have
demonsLraLed LhaL Lhe conLenL of Dblqulnol ln human LuL affords
proLecLlon agalnsL Lhe oxldaLlve modlflcaLlons of LuL Lhemselves Lhus
lowerlng Lhelr aLherogenlc poLency
,|gra|ne headaches
SupplemenLaLlon of coenzyme C
10
has been found Lo have a beneflclal
effecL on Lhe condlLlon of some sufferers of mlgralne headaches So far
Lhree sLudles have been done of whlch Lwo were small dld noL have a
placebo group were noL randomlzed and were openlabel and one
was a doublebllnd randomlzed placeboconLrolled Lrlal whlch found
sLaLlsLlcally slgnlflcanL resulLs desplLe lLs small sample slze of 42
paLlenLs uosages were 130 Lo 300 mg/day
Cancer
CoC
10
ls also belng lnvesLlgaLed as a LreaLmenL for cancer and as rellef
from cancer LreaLmenL sldeeffecLs
Card|ac arrest
noLher recenL sLudy shows a survlval beneflL afLer cardlac arresL lf
coenzyme C
10
ls admlnlsLered ln addlLlon Lo commenclng acLlve coollng
of Lhe body Lo 9093 degrees lahrenhelL (3234 degrees Celslus)
31

8|ood pressure
1here are several reporLs concernlng Lhe effecL of CoC
10
on blood
pressure ln human sLudles
recenL (2007) meLaanalysls of Lhe cllnlcal Lrlals of CoC
10
for
hyperLenslon revlewed all publlshed Lrlals of coenzyme C
10
for
hyperLenslon and assessed overall efflcacy conslsLency of LherapeuLlc
acLlon and sldeeffecL lncldence MeLaanalysls was performed ln 12
cllnlcal Lrlals (362 paLlenLs) comprlslng Lhree randomlzed conLrolled
Lrlals one crossover sLudy and elghL openlabel sLudles 1he meLa
analysls concluded LhaL coenzyme C
10
has Lhe poLenLlal ln hyperLenslve
paLlenLs Lo lower sysLollc blood pressure by up Lo 17 mm Pg and
dlasLollc blood pressure by up Lo 10 mm Pg wlLhouL slgnlflcanL slde
effecLs

9er|odonta| d|sease
SLudles have shown LhaL dlseased gum Llssue ls deflclenL ln CoC
10

compared Lo healLhy gum Llssue Puman cllnlcal Lrlals have suggesLed a
llnk beLween oral admlnlsLraLlon of CoC10 and lmproved glnglval
healLh lmmune response ln gum Llssues and a reversal of Lhe dlseased
gum condlLlons ln addlLlon Lo oral supplemenLaLlon Loplcal appllcaLlon
of CoC10 on gum Llssues has been shown Lo lmprove perlodonLlLls and
glnglvlLls condlLlons
L|fespan
Cne sLudy demonsLraLed LhaL low dosages of coenzyme C
10
reduce
oxldaLlon and un doublesLrand breaks and a comblnaLlon of a dleL
rlch ln polyunsaLuraLed faLLy aclds and coenzyme C
10
supplemenLaLlon
leads Lo a longer llfespan ln raLs Coles and Parrls demonsLraLed an
exLenslon ln Lhe llfespan of raLs when Lhey were glven coenzyme C
10

supplemenLaLlon 8uL mulLlple sLudles have slnce found no lncrease ln
llfespan or decrease ln aglng ln mlce and raLs supplemenLed wlLh
coenzyme C
10
noLher sLudy demonsLraLed LhaL coenzyme C
10
exLends
Lhe llfespan of f (nemaLode)
ad|at|on |n[ury
2002 sLudy reporLed LhaL ln raL experlmenLs coenzyme C
10
Laken as
dleLary supplemenL reduced radlaLlon damage Lo Lhe anlmals blood
9ark|nsons d|sease
2002 sLudy ln 80 arklnsons dlsease paLlenLs found 1200 mg/day
reduced Lhe progresslon by 44 and a phase lll Lrlal of 1200 mg/d and
2400 mg/d should run unLll 2011