Coenzyme study backs heart health claims

The randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial, published in the European Heart Journal​, is yet another positive result for CoQ10 and its heart health benefits. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a blockage of the vessels which supply the heart with blood. The study, led by Luca Tiano from Italy's Polytechnic University of the Marche, divided 38 CAD patients into two groups, with one receiving 100 mg/d of CoQ10 and the other a placebo for one month. CAD reduces extracellular superoxide dismutase (ecSOD), a major antioxidant enzyme system of blood vessel walls. However, the CoQ10-supplemented group had more ecSOD at the end of the trial than the placebo group. Tiano stated the coenzyme also boosted endothelial function. She said: "The data from our group​ highlighted that CoQ​10​ greatly attenuates the endothelial dysfunction in patients affected by ischaemic heart disease." ​ ​The improvements were particularly significant in patients with low initial endothelium-bound ecSOD, who were more prone to oxidative stress, the study found. The results found that ecSOD activity raised from 17.3+1.7 to 22.4+1.3 U/mL/min in the treated group, whereas there was only a slight change in the placebo group, from 16.6+1.6 to 17.3+1.6 U/mL/min. "The results of the present investigation indicate that the oral CoQ​10​ supplementation in CAD patients has beneficial effects, which can be ascribed either to the bioenergetic role of the quinone or to its antioxidant properties,​" the study said. "Moreover, recent data from our group demonstrated that the CoQ10 administration improves cardiac contractility in ischaemic heart disease patients, measured by low dobutamine stress echocardiography."​ "Although the effect of CoQ10 on the ED relaxation has already been shown in patients with type II diabetes10 and ischaemic heart disease, the effect of CoQ10 on raising ecSOD levels represents a novel observation."​​ Source: European Heart Journal July 2007, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehm267 ​"​Effect of coenzyme Q​10​ administration on endothelial function and extracellular superoxide dismutase in patients with ischaemic heart disease: a double-blind, ​randomized controlled study." ​Authors:​ Luca Tiano, Romualdo Belardinelli, Paola Carnevali, Federica Principi, Giovanna Seddaiu, and Gian Paolo Littarru.