Health benefits of Q10

AGEING

The accumulation of damage to the organism caused by free radicals represents an important part of the ageing process. As Q10 is present exactly where the majority of free radicals are generated it has a fundamental influence on the ageing process. Since the levels of Q10 in various tissues reduce with increasing age, supplementation can restore normal levels and slow down the ageing process.

> Diagram: Concentration of coenzyme Q10 in most active human organs decreases with age.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world. A decline in Q10 concentration in an ageing heart has been connected with various cardiovascular diseases. The beneficial effects of Q10 supplementation have been shown in many studies. Oral Q10 improves functional capacity, endothelial function and left ventricular systolic function in advanced chronic heart failure without any side effects. Q10 may also safely be offered as an adjuvant therapy to hypertensive and angina patients.

CHOLESTEROL AND STATINS

Statins are drugs used to lower raised blood cholesterol levels, which have been associated with increased risk of heart disease. However, these drugs also influence the biosynthesis of Q10 and its plasma levels are lowered in the course of statin treatment. Statins competitively restrict the synthesis of mevalonate, a cholesterol precursor. Unfortunately, mevalonate is also the precursor of a dozen other end-products, including Q10. Compensating for such a Q10 decrease through the oral administration of Q10 is therefore often suggested.

NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

Patients with various neurodegenerative diseases have also been successfully treated. Substantial data have been accumulated about the beneficial effects of Q10 in neurodegenerative diseases in which there is impaired mitochondrial function and/or excessive oxidative damage, including Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Friedreich’s ataxia. Clinical trials suggest that supplemental Q10 can slow down functional decline in these disorders.

MIGRAINE

The efficiency of Q10 as a preventive treatment for migraine headaches was first investigated in 2002. The average number of days with a migraine was halved after 3 months of therapy with Q10. It was further reported that a Q10-deficiency may be common to migraine patients, while an efficacious and well tolerated treatment was also confirmed by a randomised control trial.

CANCER

The supplementation of Q10 can sometimes improve the tolerability of cancer treatments. In individual cases, a partial or complete regression of cancer has also been observed in relation to Q10 supplementation.

OTHER CONDITIONS

Beneficial effects of Q10 have also been reported in support of the immune system, the treatment of periodontal disease, male infertility and many other conditions

DOCTOR’S OPINION ON QUVITAL FORTE SYRUP

Products from the Quvital line have for years been successfully used to alleviate the symptoms of children with mitochondrial diseases at the Children’s Hospital of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana. The following is an opinion regarding our products, prepared by Prof. Dr. David Neubauer, MD, Senior Councillor, Head of the Department of Paediatric Neurology at the Children’s Hospital of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana:

In addition to the effect coenzyme Q10 has on the inhibition of the aging process, it has proved to be very effective in the clinical practice of the relief of symptoms of a number of severe diseases such as various heart diseases, hepatic impairments, neurologic disorders and, in particular, so-called degenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease) (1). Among these severe diseases, many forms of mitochondrial diseases are included, in particular during the period of childhood (2, 3). Recently, it has even been proven that there are genetically confirmed forms of childhood mitochondrial diseases, the main cause of which is primarily a deficiency of coenzyme Q10 (4). These diseases require treatment with doses of supplementary coenzyme Q10. So far, capsules were most commonly used for this purpose, in particular soft gelatine capsules containing coenzyme Q10, which are the most accessible form of this coenzyme due to their lipophilic properties, and they are also the most common form found on the market. The latter contain coenzyme Q10, which is partly or completely dissolved in an oil base.

Recently, water-soluble forms of this coenzyme can also be found on the market; the majority of the published data show that with the increased water-solubility, bioavailability also increases (5, 6), as well the possibility of preparation of various other pharmaceutical forms, which were until now inaccessible or less accessible. In this context, Valens Int. offered us Quvital syrup (we agreed to test it), which contains a special, water-soluble form of coenzyme Q10 that was developed and patented by the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana (Patent SI 21783, WO 2005/111224 A2). The base of the syrup is natural concentrated fruit juice with no added sweeteners or preservatives. The concentration of the coenzyme Q10 in the Quvital syrup used is 15 mg/mL.

In using Quvital syrup, we wished to determine its potential advantages in comparison with the use of soft gelatine capsules from the perspective of its acceptability among our little patients and from the perspective of its clinical effects. To this end, we have substituted the soft gelatine capsules containing coenzyme Q10 in all cases of children with severe forms of confirmed or clinically very probable mitochondrial diseases with equal or lower doses of this coenzyme in the form of Quvital syrup. In particular, we have determined an exceptionally good acceptability of the syrup in most children and, subsequently, an anamnestically and objectively determined improvement of clinical effects in relation to equal or higher doses of coenzyme Q10 in the form of soft gelatine capsules.

According to our experiences, Quvital syrup is a very welcome and useful innovation for anyone who favours liquid forms of medicines or has difficulties in consuming capsules or receives a large number of solid forms of medicines for oral use; this innovation is particularly welcome among children and the elderly. It enables adjustment of dosage to an individual’s needs, both in terms of quantity and administration. The syrup can be taken undiluted or as a cold or warm drink when diluted in water, tea, etc. It is therefore understandable that all of the children (as well as their parents) have accepted the syrup as a great innovation.

In addition to good acceptability among patients, the clinical efficiency of the syrup was also obvious, as the anamnestical and clinical condition of children improved significantly after the substitution of capsules with the syrup in equal and even in lower doses.

In the light of our experience, I estimate that similar effects can be expected in other conditions and diseases related to a deficiency of coenzyme Q10.

LITERATURE:

J. Challem, Feed Your Genes Right: Eat to Turn off Disease-causing Genes and Slow Down Aging,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005,pp. 41-48.
Pons R, De Vivo DC. Mitochondrial disease. Curr Treat Options Neurol 2001;3:271-288.
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Lopez LC, Schuelke M, Quinzii CM et al. Leigh syndrome with nephropathy and CoQ10 deficiency due to
decaprenyl diphosphate synthase subunit 2 (PDSS2) mutations. Am J Hum Genet 2006;79:1125-1129.
Miles MV et al. Nutrition Res 2002; 22:919-929.
Chopra K et al. Internat J Vit Nutr Res 1998;68:109-113.

Scientific literature about Coenzyme Q10:

The vital biological functions of Coenzyme Q10, its beneficial contribution to human health and its safety have all been confirmed in numerous scientific investigations. Some of interesting scientific sources include:

Žmitek et al. Koencim Q10 kot prehransko dopolnilo in zdravilo, Farmacevtski vestnik 2009, 3, 150.
Pavlin. Koencim Q10 – Klinična raba, Zdrav. vest. 2008, 77, 97.
Bhagavan et al. Mitochondrion 2007, 7, S78.
Coenzyme Q: Biochemistry, Bioenergetics, and Clinical Applications of Ubiquinone; John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, 1985.
Crane J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 2001, 20, 591.
Mellors et al. J. Biol. Chem. 1966, 241, 4353.
Frei et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1990, 87, 4879.
Challem. Nutrients That Enhance Energy and Prevent DNA Damage.
In Feed Your Genes Right; John Wiles & Sons: Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005.
Sastry et al. Nature 1961, 189, 577.
Kalén et al. Lipids 1989, 24, 579.
Quinzii et al. Neurochem. Res. 2007, 32, 723.
Elsayed et al. Nutr Res 2001, 21, 551.
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Bribiva et al. Nonenzymatic Antioxidant Defense Systems. In Natural Antioxidants
in Human Health and Disease; Frei., Ed.; AP Inc.: San Diego, 1994.
Linnane et al. Ann. NY. Acad. Sci. 2002, 959, 396.
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Littarru et al. Mitochondrion 2007, 7, S168.
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Hershey et al. Headache 2007, 47, 73.
Sandor et al. Neurology 2005, 64, 713.
Roffe et al. J. Clin. Oncol. 2004, 22, 4418.
Lockwood et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1994, 199, 1504.
Folkers et al. Drugs Exp. Clin. Res. 1985, 11, 539.
Matthews-Brzozowska et al. Pharmacol. Rep. 2007, 59, 257.
Balercia et al. Fertil. Steril. 2004, 81, 93.
Dhanasekaran et al. Curr. Neurovasc. Res 2005, 2, 447.
Kikkawa et al. Jpn. J. Food Chem. 2007, 14, 76.
Hidaka et al. The 5th conf. of the Int. CoQ10 Assoc.: Overview of safety assessment of CoQ10: Animal and human data. 2007.dr