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Health News Archive 413 - Cardiovascular Health
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CoenzymeQ10 Improves Cardiovascular Functional Capacity

The results of a clinical trial investigating the effects of Coenzyme Q10 (Q-absorb™ brand), an enhanced-absorption CoQ10 formula, on chronic heart failure patients was published in the September 2006 European Heart Journal.

Italian scientists from the Lancisi Heart Institute and the University of Ancona (Institute of Biochemistry) measured the effects of 300 mg per day (100 mg T.I.D.) CoQ10 Q-absorb™ on the cardiovascular functional capacity of 23 heart patients. Measurements included endothelial-dependent vasodilation as measured by ultrasound BART (brachial artery reactivity test), plasma ubiquinone, and other important cardiovascular biochemical parameters. In this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover clinical trial, the study results proved the efficacy of Q-absorb™, as demonstrated by:

• improving functional capacity (peak volume of oxygen consumed VO2)
• improvement in endothelial-dependent vasodilation
• tripling of plasma coenzyme Q 10 levels (p<0.0001)

One experimental arm consisted of Chronic Heart Failure patients administered Q-absorb™ plus a prescribed exercise regimen, which resulted in the greatest gains of plasma Q, with endothelial function being almost normalized. Endothelial function, as measured by the Brachial Artery Reactivity Test, is a non-invasive, preliminary test for cardiovascular disease. The scientists theorized that CoQ10 enhanced the endothelial-dependent vasodilation by its effects of reducing ROS (reactive oxygen species), thus resulting in the elevation of nitric oxide.

“This study adds significantly to a growing body of evidence that CoQ10 supplementation may be an efficacious complementary method for improving cardiac function in heart failure patients,” says Kevin Connolly, Ph.D, Director of Scientific Affairs and Product Development at Jarrow Formulas. “It [the study] also validates that our Q-Absorb as a successful natural delivery system for CoQ10, an antioxidant that typically exhibits poor bioavailability. Prior to this study, we had invested several years into the development and study of Q-absorb™, and we are excited to see it perform so successfully in patients.”

Source: European Heart Journal, September 2006.