SAN DIEGO—If your patients are planning to spend time in the sun, you might want to recommend that they pack some Coenzyme Q10 along with their sunscreen.
This metabolic co-factor is widely recognized as a valuable therapy for congestive heart failure, and other cardiovascular problems. But it also has promise as a preventive and possible therapeutic agent against various forms of cancer, including skin cancer associated with UV light exposure.
The role of this endogenous co-enzyme in mitochondrial energy production is well defined. From a clinical perspective, however, its powerful antioxidant and immunostimulatory effects have been largely overlooked.
While there are not yet any topical CoQ10 preparations available, a recent study by Joseph Vinson, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Scranton, indicates that CoQ10 is readily absorbed through the skin, and that it can markedly increase both tissue concentration and antioxidant activity.
Dr. Vinson tested two formulations of CoQ10—standard USP CoQ10, 10 mg, in 10 g of a commercial hand lotion that contains no other antioxidants, or 125 mg of a special “Probiotic” CoQ10 preparation that was cultured with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewer’s yeast) and similarly combined with the lotion. The culturing process yields a compound that is 8% CoQ10 by weight.
Two groups of patients—8 men and women aged 21–29 years, and 9 men and women aged 51 to 70 years—were given one bottle of each lotion, and instructed to apply 0.1 ml of each to specific areas of their wrists, twice daily for one month.
Dr. Vinson presented the data from this study at a recent conference on the clinical use of dietary supplements sponsored by Scripps Clinic and the University of San Diego, where it won a first prize for original research.
In general, the older subjects showed greater transcutaneous absorption of both forms of the Q10, compared with the younger group. But both groups showed significantly greater absorption of the probiotic form. The probiotic Q10 resulted in a 20% increase in skin antioxidants, versus an 8% increase from the USP form. Reactive peroxides in the skin were reduced by 41% by the USP form and 62% by the cultured form of CoQ10.
Dr. Vinson also compared the two forms administered orally. Eighteen fasting subjects, aged 19–53 years, were given 3 capsules containing 100 mg each of either the USP or the probiotic form. After 4 hours, plasma levels of the coenzyme were 61% greater among those taking the probiotic form, compared with those given USP CoQ10. He estimated that there is a three-fold difference in bioavailability, favoring the Saccharomyces fermented form of the co-enzyme. In vitro measurement of lipid peroxidation also favored the probiotic form.
“As an in vitro antioxidant, the probiotic Q10 is over 20 times better than USP in preventing lipid peroxidation in LDL and VLDL, and 70% better at increasing the lag time of LDL and VLDL oxidation,” said Dr. Vinson.
These findings, though preliminary, do suggest that topically applied CoQ10 could play a role in prevention of skin cancer, given that UV-induced free radical formation is a primary pathogenic mechanism underlying skin cancer.
CoQ10 has already entered the realm of cancer treatment to some extent. NCI currently recommends it as an adjunct to chemotherapy with anthracycline drugs, based on a trial showing that it can prevent anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.
There are in vitro and animal studies showing that Q10 metabolites can directly inhibit proliferation of a variety of cancer cell lines.
While there are no randomized controlled studies yet, there are several compelling epidemiologic and case-control studies, particularly in breast cancer. There is a statistically significant inverse correlation between plasma Q10 levels and breast cancer prognosis: women with the lowest Q10 levels have the worst prognosis (Jolliet P, et al., Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 1998; 36(9): 506–509).
In a study of 32 patients with advanced “high risk” breast cancer, 90 mg CoQ10 taken orally, in combination with antioxidant vitamins and essential fatty acids, produced partial or total regressions in 6 of the 32 patients, independent of other therapies (Lockwood K, et al., Biochem Biophys Res Comm 1995; 212(1): 172–177). NCI’s website (www.cancer.gov) suggests that CoQ10 has immunostimulatory effects in addition to its antioxidant and cellular metabolic effects, that may benefit patients with cancer.
The probiotic form of CoQ10 is currently being marketed by NewMark, the new professional line of products from New Chapter, a Vermont-based company specializing in whole food forms of supplemental nutrition. The company has developed proprietary culturing processes for a number of nutrients, taking advantage of the fact that organisms like Saccharomyces can improve the bioavailability of nutrient compounds.
“It is similar to the way the iron in a spinach leaf is incorporated into a whole food matrix, rather than as elemental iron. You can’t pick up a spinach leaf with a magnet, but the iron is there, and in an absorbable form,” explained company president, Tom Newmark. He told Holistic Primary Care that in light of Dr. Vinson’s findings, the company is in the early stages of developing a topically applied form of its probiotic CoQ10.
The increased bioavailability of the cultured nutrient will likely have a dose-sparing effect, allowing users to absorb a greater amount of the co-enzyme from a smaller dose. “With any therapeutic intervention, you always want to use the minimum effective dose,” he said.
