A review published in the January issue of the Journal of Evidence-Based Complimentary and Alternative Medicine has concluded that CoQ10 supplementation has potential therapeutic value for several diseases and health conditions. However, clinical efficacy could be limited by CoQ10’s ability to be absorbed to reach high plasma concentrations required for therapeutic benefit.

CoQ10 has been implicated as a potential therapy for a large number of health conditions and diseases, especially those that result from reduced mitochondrial function. The review discussed recent clinical research in the areas of neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disease, statin therapy, reproductive health, cancer and periodontal diseases. In addition, the article provides an overview of the fundamentals of CoQ10 absorption and reviews the latest clinical research comparing various enhanced formulation technologies used to improve the bioavailability of CoQ10. 

The authors conclude that, at first glance based on clinical studies on healthy subjects, more sophisticated CoQ10 formulations show great potential. Yet, with additional scrutiny of the reported data, it appears that some studies have high intersubject variance, which means a percentage of the population will not experience the improvement in bioavailability. It is recommended that improvements in the standards of reporting the bioavailability of CoQ10 be made to help clinicians and consumers decide whether or not a product is likely to be effective. For further information: www.bioactives.com