Preliminary study shows high-dose coenzyme Q10 slows functional decline in Parkinson's...( inson's disease and coenzyme Q10 levels...),Health

"Coenzyme Q10 plays a crucial role in normal mitochondrial function both as a component of the electron transport chain which makes cellular energy and as a molecule with antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties," Haas said. "Recently, several rare mitochondrial diseases affecting younger people resulting from coenzyme Q10 deficiency have been described. These patients may respond dramatically to coenzyme Q10 treatment. Tissue coenzyme Q10 levels fall with aging and we do not know why this occurs. The normal lower levels of Coenzyme Q10 in older individuals may be a contributing factor in the progression of some diseases of aging."

In the Parkinson Study Group national clinical trial, 80 Parkinsonian patients who had early disease and did not yet need medications typically used to treat Parkinson's disease (such as levodopa), were randomly assigned to receive coenzyme Q10 four times a day at a dosage of 300, 600 or 1200 mg/day, or a placebo, also taken four times a day. Prior to beginning the study, the patients were evaluated with a medical history, physical exam, laboratory tests, and a battery of clinical assessments of Parkinson's disease. Participants were reevaluated with tests to assess the severity of the Parkinson's disease at regular intervals and followed until the time that they needed treatment with medications used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, or for a maximum of 16 months.

By the eighth month visit, the scores among the four groups had clearly separated and established a pattern of the groups taking the lowest and intermediate dosages (300 and 600 mg/day) being similar and lower than placebo and the scores for the group receiving the highest dosage (120
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Contact: Sue Pondrom
spondrom@ucsd.edu
619-543-6163
University of California - San Diego
14-Oct-2002