Throughout my childhood I was aware of
importance of eating well and taking my vitamins. But science of dietary supplements has come a long way since those days. And one of stars in this scientific progression is Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). CoQ10 is not a drug. It is a vitamin-like substance that is found in small amounts in a variety of foods and is synthesized within our body tissues. Enzymes are compounds in body that are absolutely essential for many processes necessary to keep us alive and our bodies functioning properly. Mitochondrial enzymes are those particular enzymes that are essential for production of high-energy phosphate ATP (adenosine triphosphate) upon which all cellular function depends. Without it our bodies shut down at cellular level. Coenzyme Q10 is cofactor upon which at least three mitochondrial enzymes depend. By logical inference then ATP functioning depends upon CoQ10. In short, all human cellular function depends on ATP. And ATP function depends on CoQ10.
As was already said, production of CoQ10 occurs within our body tissues. Its biosynthesis from amino acid tyrosine is a complex multistage process requiring several vitamins and trace elements. Under normal conditions we produce all we need while we are young. But there are many factors that can contribute to CoQ10 deficiency. Among these are aging, disease, dietary deficiency, use of statin drugs and increasing tissue demands. Before we get to CoQ10 deficiencies, however, it is well to look at history of CoQ10 research.
History
CoQ10 was first isolated by Dr. Frederick Crane in 1957 from mitochondria of beef heart. During that same year Professor Morton, from Britain, also discovered CoQ10 in livers of vitamin A deficient rats. During following year researchers at Merck, Inc. determined its chemical structure and became first to produce it.
It was neither British nor Americans that first found a practical use for CoQ compounds. Professor Yamamura from Japan first used a related compound (CoQ7) in treatment of congestive heart failure. Other practical uses then followed. CoQ6 was used as an effective antioxidant in mid 1960s. In 1972 (in Italy) deficiency of CoQ10 was linked to heart disease. The Japanese, however, were first to perfect technology necessary to produce CoQ10 in sizeable enough quantities to make large clinical trials a reality.
After Peter Mitchell won Nobel Prize in 1978 for defining biological energy transfer that occurs at cellular level (for which CoQ10 is essential) there was a considerable increase in number of clinical studies performed in relation to CoQ10 usefulness. This was due in part to large amounts of pharmaceutical grade CoQ10 that was now available from Japan and ability to measure CoQ10 in blood and body tissues. CoQ10 since has become known for its importance as a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger and as a treatment in many chronic illnesses, especially heart disease.
Coenzyme Q10 Deficiency
The usefulness of CoQ10 as a medical treatment has largely been approached from perspective that when a chronic disease is present (especially in case of heart disease) CoQ10 is often grossly deficient. For example, a person suffering from congestive heart failure often demonstrates extreme CoQ10 deficiency. Normal blood and tissue levels of CoQ10 have been well established. Significantly low levels of CoQ10 have been linked to a vast variety of diseases in both animal and human studies.
