CoQ10 protects heart from age-related oxidative stress

Spanish researchers reported in the August 2005 issue of the Gerontological Society of America’s Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences that coenzyme Q10 (coQ10) protects against age-related oxidative stress and improves mitochondrial function in rats given diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids have been shown to benefit cardiovascular disease by improving lipid profiles and reducing arrhythmias, however they are highly susceptible to free radical attack, which increases oxidative damage in the bodies of those consuming them.

Julio Ochoa and colleagues from the University of Granada gave 120 rats a diet that provided 61 percent of its total fatty acid content as polyunsaturated fatty acids, and supplemented some of them with 0.7 milligrams per kilogram coQ10 per day. Twenty animals from each group were examined at 6, 12 and 24 months of age, which correspond to young adulthood, middle age and old age in the rat.

Dietary intake and body weight were similar for both groups at all age points examined. Not surprisingly, supplementation with coQ10 led to higher heart mitochondrial levels of the nutrient at 12 and 24 months of age. Heart mitochondrial hydroperoxide levels, a measure of lipid peroxidation, were lower in both groups at 6 months than at 12 and 24 months, which, according to the authors, is consistent with the free radical theory of aging, however, hydroperoxide levels were higher in the rats who did not receive coQ10 at all ages than in those who received the supplemented diets. While both groups had the highest hydroperoxide values at 12 months of age, in the nonsupplemented rats, the value stayed relatively the same until 24 months but in the supplemented older group the level dropped to almost that of the nonsupplemented rats at 6 months.

Cardiac mitochondrial vitamin E levels were higher in animals supplemented with coQ10 at 6 and 12 months than in those not supplemented. When the research team tested mitochondrial membranes derived from older animals by exposing them to a free radical generator in vitro, they found that those derived from supplemented animals were more resistant to oxidative damage.

In addition, the body’s naturally produced antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase showed greater activity at 6 months, and another antioxidant enzyme, catalase, showed greater activity at 24 months in rats who received coQ10 than in animals who did not receive the supplement.

The authors suggest that “previously reported positive effects of coQ10 supplementation on mean and maximal life span of rats fed a PUFA-rich diet might be a consequence, at least in part, of a lower oxidative stress level and perhaps, to a minor extent, to a smaller decrease in mitochondrial function.”

Cardiovascular disease: Comprehensive analysis

The following examples exemplify the breadth of CoQ10's credits:

• CoQ10 therapy is associated with a mean 25.4% increase in exercise duration and a 14.3% increase in workload (Sacher et al. 1997).
• The frequency of angina attacks, a squeezing or pressure-like pain in the chest, usually provoked by exercise, decreases by about 53% during CoQ10 supplementation ( Murray 1995).
• CoQ10 has been reported to lower Lp(a), a powerful predictor of cardiac health (Singh et al. 1999; Health Concerns 2002). To read more about Lp(a), consult the section (in this protocol) dedicated to Newer Risk Factors.
• CoQ10 inhibits oxidation of LDL cholesterol. CoQ10 accomplishes this by attaching to LDL particles circulating in the bloodstream. Were there more riders (CoQ10) than carriers (LDL) the oxidation of LDL cholesterol would be less worrisome (Thomas et al. 1995; LEF 2000).
• CoQ10's antioxidant activities extend to protect the cells and lungs of smokers. By aiding oxygen delivery, reducing platelet aggregation, and hampering free-radical activity, the brain and heart have significantly greater protection. In addition, current data provide direct evidence for an interactive effect between exogenously administered vitamin E and CoQ10 in terms of uptake and retention, and for a sparing effect of CoQ10 on vitamin E. Vitamin E, in turn, plays a pivotal role in determining tissue retention of exogenous CoQ10 (Ibrahim et al. 2000).
• Hypertensive patients demonstrated a significant improvement while supplementing with CoQ10. Before treatment with CoQ10, most patients were taking from 1-5 cardiac medications. During the study, overall medication requirements dropped considerably: 43% stopped between 1-3 drugs. Typically, diastolic and systolic blood pressures drop by about 10% with CoQ10 therapy (Langsjoen et al. 1994; Lam 2001).
• Periodontal disease, a risk factor regarding heart health, responds to CoQ10 supplementation. Gingival pocket depth, swelling, bleeding, redness, pain, exudates, and looseness of teeth were significantly improved using 50 mg of CoQ10 a day (Wilkinson et al. 1977; Murray 1996). The herbs goldenseal and echinacea should accompany CoQ10 supplementation to further reduce oral infection.
• For the dieter, CoQ10 is good news (Murray 1996). Together with a well-planned diet and exercise program, CoQ10 assists in shedding unwanted pounds.
• CoQ10's ability to energize the heart is perhaps its chief attribute. The heart is one of the most metabolically active organs in the body, pumping approximately 2000 gallons of blood through 65,000 miles of blood vessels, beating 100,000 times each day (American Heart Association 2002). According to Decker Weiss, N.M.D., the heart requires large amounts of uninterrupted energy to fuel this unbelievable performance. The mitochondria (supplying 95% of the body's total energy requirement) are represented in large numbers (up to 2000 per heart cell).
• In addition to energy supply, CoQ10 is an important defense system in tissues and muscles, particularly those having large numbers of mitochondria. As the mitochondria produce energy to fuel cellular functions, a plethora of free radicals results (Treatment and Research Newsletter 1998). Heart cells have more CoQ10 than any other cells, a supply critical to ATP production, cardiac function, and free-radical protection (Guyton et al. 1996; Porth et al. 1998).

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Life Extension magazine October 2005

Coenzyme Q10: New applications for cancer therapy, by Christie Yerby, ND

Interest in CoQ10’s therapeutic uses can be traced as far back as 1957, when it was first identified by Frederick Crane, PhD. In the 1960s, Peter D. Mitchell, PhD, discovered that CoQ10 produces energy at the cellular level, work that would eventually earn him a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1978. In the early 1980s, Karl Folkers, PhD, director of the Institute for Biochemical Research at the University of Texas, and Peter H. Langsjoen, MD, FACC, began studying CoQ10. In 1983, seven years before Folkers received the National Medal of Science in recognition of his work, the Life Extension Foundation announced CoQ10’s potential benefits for health disorders ranging from neurological aging to heart disease, and drew attention to numerous clinical studies demonstrating its safety.

https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2005/10/report_coq10

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For longer life,

Dayna Dye
Editor, Life Extension Update
ddye@lifeextension.com
954 766 8433 extension 7716

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