Coenzyme Q 10 changes are associated with metabolic syndrome

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ) concentrations and redox status are associated with components of the metabolic syndrome. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey of 223 adults (28–78 years), who were drawn from the ongoing Princeton Follow-up Study in greater Cincinnati. Individuals were assessed for measures of fatness, blood pressure, glucose, lipid profiles, C-reactive protein (CRP), reduced CoQ (ubiquinol), oxidized CoQ (ubiquinone), total CoQ and CoQ redox ratio (ubiquinol/ubiquinone). Results: After adjusting for age, sex and race, we found that total CoQ, ubiquinol and CRP levels are significantly increased in metabolic syndrome. Comparison of minimal risk and high-risk metabolic syndrome groups indicates an increased CoQ redox ratio in the high risk group ( p<0.05). Step-wise logistic regression analysis, using age, sex, race, (ln)CRP, total cholesterol, LDL, ubiquinol, ubiquinone and total CoQ as predictors, shows that only age ( p=0.001), total CoQ adjusted for plasma lipids ( p<0.0001) and (ln)CRP ( p<0.005) were significant predictors of metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: The presence of metabolic syndrome components are associated with increased plasma total CoQ and ubiquinol concentrations after adjusting for age, sex and race. An increase in CoQ redox ratio may indicate a gender-specific adaptive response to oxidative stress in females, but not males.