Written by: Noelle A. Koo (12th grade / Ashburn, VA USA)
In a recently published research paper studying the effects of Coenzyme Q10 on cardiovascular disease, published in April 2020, researchers studied the clinical applications of CoQ10 in CVD extensively. This research paper summarized the current information drawn from experiments on the use of CoQ10 as a therapeutic approach in CVD. It was discovered in the study that as a result of CVD, CoQ10 (which normally acts as an energy transfer molecule) levels in the heart were reduced significantly (Martelli, et. al 2020). This finding led researchers to dig deeper to determine how the addition of CoQ10 could impact the heart and a new scope of the finding could be explored: if the level of CoQ10 is reduced as a result of CVD, adding it/using therapeutic treatments involving CoQ10 may potentially boost the energy levels in cardiomyocytes/heart cells and protect cells from further damage as it has previously been shown that CoQ10 has cardioprotective roles.
Researchers in this study discovered through in-vitro studies with cardiomyocytes that CoQ10 inhibited the peroxidation of cell membrane lipids (lipid peroxidation) and also inhibited the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins more than any other antioxidant molecule (Martelli, et. al 2020). This finding was beneficial as too much low density lipoprotein (LDL) can be detrimental to the body, as it can lead to CVD but having none/very low levels of LDL can also be a detriment to the body as it can lead to cancers and other diseases - CoQ10 helped with the moderation of these low density lipoproteins. A significant finding that the researchers in the study came across was that treatment with CoQ10 in patients suffering from heart failure could prevent myocardial cell damage and restore tissue and can protect cell structures from oxidative damage during ischemic damage and IRI (Martelli, et. al 2020). This was very significant as researchers discovered that CoQ10 had cardioprotective roles but could also restore tissue which was a new finding that added value to the use of treatments using CoQ10 with CVD.
Paper Citation:
Martelli, A., Testai, L., Colletti, A., & Cicero, A. F. (2020). Coenzyme Q10: Clinical Applications in Cardiovascular Diseases. Antioxidants, 9(4), 341. doi:10.3390/antiox9040341
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