CoQ10 Can Play Role in Statin Therapy

New cholesterol treatment guidelines proposed by the American Heart Association could very well double the amount of U.S. consumers who take statins. But more statin use may also mean more sales of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplements-because research continues to link statin therapy to low CoQ10 levels.

The body uses CoQ10 for energy and cell growth, and as an antioxidant.

To assess the effect of CoQ10 supplements on statin users, Taiwanese researchers recruited 51 statin users with coronary artery disease and assigned them to a daily CoQ10 supplement or placebo for 12 weeks. In as little as four weeks, CoQ10 levels increased five-fold in the supplemented group compared to placebo. Markers of inflammation also improved, and vitamin E levels increased in proportion to increases in blood CoQ10.

With their new findings reassuring them, the researchers state that CoQ10 appears intimately related to vitamin E because it “not only protects vitamin E against superoxide-driven oxidation, but also regenerates vitamin E during antioxidation processes.”

The researchers designed their study with a daily dose of 300 g of CoQ10, because their previous trial on 150 mg could not induce anti-inflammatory benefit. Both doses, however, did improve CoQ10 blood status.