Coenzyme Q10 in patients undergoing CABG: Effect of statins and nutritional supplementation

BackgroundThe hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) are effective cholesterol lowering medications, however, statins may interfere with CoQ10 biosynthesis. We examined the effect of statin therapy as well as nutritional supplements on plasma, cardiac and skeletal muscle concentrations of CoQ10.MethodsForty patients with left ventricular dysfunction had fasting blood samples collected at baseline and following four weeks of supplementation (150 mg/day of CoQ10). Cardiac and skeletal muscle biopsies were collected at the time of surgery and frozen in liquid nitrogen until analyzed for CoQ10 levels by high performance liquid chromatography.ResultsNutrient supplementation significantly increased plasma [(1.8 (1.2, 2.7) vs 0.8 (0.6, 0.94) μg/ml plasma, median + IQR; p = 0.001)] and cardiac tissue concentrations of CoQ10 [(120.5 (76.5, 177.1) vs 87.3 (60.5, 110.8) nmol/g wet weight, p = 0.04)]. No effect of supplementation was seen on samples of skeletal muscle from the chest wall. Statin therapy was not found to influence plasma, cardiac or chest wall levels of CoQ10.ConclusionNutrient supplementation significantly increased plasma and cardiac tissue levels of CoQ10 but did not influence chest wall muscle concentrations. Statin therapy did not significantly influence tissue concentrations of CoQ10. Longer term studies are needed to confirm this observation.