Coenzyme Q-10

Coenzyme Q-10 (Co Q-10) or ubiquinone is necessary for every cell within our bodies for the production of energy.

There are disagreements regarding the classification of this substance.

Some scientists consider that in its essence Co Q-10 is a vitamin or a vitamin-like substance. Although Co Q-10 is present in food products, other scientists consider that this does not make it a vitamin because the human body is capable of manufacturing it from nutrients entering the body. The biosynthesis of Co Q-10 from the amino acid of tyrosine is a complex process, which takes place in several stages. For its synthesis to take place the presence of at least eight vitamins and several micro elements are necessary.

Coenzyme Q-10 is present in each cell and is key to the process responsible for the manufacture of 95% of all cellular energy within the body. Coenzymes are the cofactors on which the work of comparatively large and complex ferments depend. The mitochondrial oxidation of the respiratory chain and the ferments of the oxidizing phosphorylation are substantially necessary for producing the macroergic molecule - adenosine triphosphate (ATP), on which all functions of the cell depend upon.

We use the term "bioenergetics" as the branch in biochemistry that deals with the study of cells and the energy they produce. Part and parcel of this branch is the chemistry of free radicals; Co Q-10 was studied in its restored form as a potential antioxidant.

Often, if an organism cannot produce Co Q-10 in sufficient quantities for its optimal functioning, the additional intake of Co Q-10 can be very useful. Since Co Q-10 acts on the processes, which are undergone in the cells of many organisms, maintaining an optimum quantity of the complex can help deal with a number of symptoms and diseases. For example, Co Q-10 successfully treats gingivitis, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, angina, cardiomyopathy and also aids to protect the heart from the destructive effects of adriamycin. The preparation used for chemotherapy which also recently appeared in the preliminaries, resulted in its encouraged use in the complex therapy of oncology patients and also patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

In 1983 the fund for “The Life Prolongation of the USA” recommended coenzyme Q-10 as a substance which can be successfully used in the involved treatment of the above-mentioned diseases. Not only that, but also as a substance which considerably slows the aging process and helps prevent and slow down the detrimental changes that develop with age.

Unfortunately, with age the ability of any organism to synthesize Co Q-10 is reduced. Surprisingly, even at 40 years of age one can observe some degree of scarcity of Co Q-10 in the organism. It has been found that the levels of Co Q-10 in elderly people are below average. This influences the body’s ability to produce energy and while reducing immunity. That is one of the reasons why elderly people are more easily susceptible to disease, which have been termed "diseases of senile age".

An enormous number of studies have been carried out on Co Q-10, the results of which have exceeded all expectation. In all cases, when the scarcity of Co Q-10 was determined, positive results were obtained after an additional intake of this substance.

Co Q-10 produces a favorable effect on the cardiovascular system. It shows a tendency to decrease initially heightened arterial pressure. Patients who suffer ischemic heart disease noted an improvement in health and an increase in physical activity. In patients with gingivitis, after a course of Co Q-10 the recovery was observed to such degree, that they were no longer threatened with hemophilia of the gums and fall out of teeth. Moreover, as a result of Co Q-10 supplementation the "effects of general rejuvenation" were observed.

Considering the fact that Co Q-10 improves the production of energy at the cellular level and that its scarcity is identified in almost half of all patients who suffer from obesity, its application can prove to be highly useful for dealing with excess weight.

Studies carried out in the USA, Japan and Germany showed that Co Q-10 plays important role in the maintenance of the viability of spermatozoids.

Of course when we say about any substance that it “treats everything", suspicion will often appear. The substance is rather reminiscent of "Panacea" (Πανάκεια), the goddess of healing. However, the claims of positive effects of Co Q-10 on various diseases are confirmed by clinical experiments. According to doctors in Japan, this substance is at the top of the list for treating diseases of the heart. It has been widely adapted in Europe and one company has even gone so far as to obtain a patent for the treatment of AIDS with the use of Co Q-10. However, at the same time, if you ask a doctor about Co Q-10, he will most likely say that has never heard of it.

This is partially explained by the uncommon name of the substance. Professor Folkers, one of the first scientists to discover this substance, has this to say about it: "The majority of doctors do not know what coenzyme is".

Co Q-10 will probably be more easily understood if we recall that vitamins, which enter the human organism with food, in the majority of cases are identical to coenzymes or are structurally close to them. Playing the role of biocatalysts, they accelerate thousands of basic biochemical reactions.

According to the molecular circuit structure, it is similar to vitamin K.

The role in which Co Q-10 plays in the organism is dual: firstly, this coenzyme contributes to the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and secondly, it acts as powerful antioxidant.

Cardiologist Pieter Langsen from Texas said this about Co Q-10: " imilar to vitamins, which were discovered in the beginning of our century, Co Q-10 was recently discovered as necessary component of our food and now we can successfully use it in medicine".

It has already been indicated that to start biochemical reactions the presence of certain necessary substances called ferments, which act as "assistants" in the reaction, are essential. Ferments are the simple, or complex proteins required for proper bodily function. Ferments are, in essence, catalysts, i.e. the substances which accelerate biochemical reactions, which themselves are not used and do not change in the reaction process. Coenzyme is the substance necessary for the functioning of ferments. They are necessary for cells that produce energy that is constantly required by an organism. These are mineral substances, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, and the organic compound of non-protein nature, called coenzyme.  As coenzymes, the derivatives of vitamins B6, B1, B2, folic acid, etc., and coenzyme Q-10 can be used.

Energy is necessary not only for physical activities, but also for the realization of such functions within the organism such as: digestion, suction and utilization of nutrients and the normal functioning of different glands. Constant circulation of the blood also requires a high power input. As has already been mentioned above, Coenzyme Q-10 is the specific substance necessary for power production within cells. In the human organism, there are approximately 100 trillion cells and each cell must manufacture the energy necessary for its vital activity. Cells do not use the nutrients consumed by an organism for the direct reserve of energy, but only as a potential energy source. Cells themselves manufacture adenosinephosphate (ATP), which is a complex molecule rich in energy, by combustion (oxidation) of fat, proteins and carbohydrates. A molecule of ATP can store a significant quantity of energy used for all processes inside the cell requiring energy.

Precisely where does the production of - and what is the specific role of coenzyme Q-10 within the cell?

In each cell there are the small intracellular structures, which are called mitochondria. They are the most active part of the cell. Within them the process of energy production occurs. Inside the mitochondria there is the “chain of the electron circuit". What specifically occurs in these chains is the production of energy. As a result of an entire series of chemical reactions, which proceed along this chain, molecules of ATP are formed. With the “circuit of electrons” are connected the action of such vitamins as vitamin C, riboflavin (or vitamin B2), nicotinamide (or vitamin B5), vitamin E, etc., and also CO Q-10, literally discovered in every cell of the human organism.

Coenzyme Q10 is dissolved in fats and therefore is capable of moving through the cellular membrane, performing a special role in the completing the circuit of electrons. It is this mobile component that ensures the connection between different ferments of the chain. Each electron pair, which has been formed in the chain, must first interact with Co Q-10. The molecules of Co Q-10 constantly ply the bioenergetic ferments, moving electrons from one ferment to another. If we visualize the cell as a small engine, which uses oxygen for combusting the organic fuel, obtained from food products, then Co Q-10 is that part of the "engine", which ensures the spark to start it.

There is no other substance that can replace Co Q-10.

Without Co Q-10 the production of energy for the cell is impossible, and without that energy - there is no life. The speed of the electrons along the chain and therefore the production of ATP hinges on the presence of the optimal amount of Co Q-10 within the membrane of mitochondria. It is possible to say that the "fuel" which mitochondria use to do work is ATP. If the level of the content of Co Q-10 is reduced within the organism, then the production of ATP will decrease proportionally and it follows directly that the energy of the cell is reduced. This results in fatigue, the systems of ones organism strains to work and thus the risk of disease-development is significantly heightened.

Co Q-10 is contained in different quantities in different organs. The biggest content of Co Q-10 is in those organs which manufacture a large quantity of energy. In humans this coenzyme is contained in relatively larger quantities in the heart, the liver, the kidneys and pancreas. The functioning of each organ depends on the level of Co Q-10 within each of its cells. Considering the fact that Co Q-10 is inseparably connected with the complex mechanism of "cellular respiration" and the formation of ATP, it is obvious, that a significant scarcity can render negative effects on the biological processes, which require energy, including mechanical, electrical, transport work and biosynthesis.

A similar scarcity can be expressed in one or several unhealthy manifestations, depending upon the place where a scarcity of Co Q-10 is localized and the varying degrees of this insufficiency. It is therefore not surprising that a scarcity of Co Q-10 can be responsible for a broad spectrum of different diseases, such as: heart disease, hypertonia, muscular dystrophy, cancer, diabetes and obesity. Moreover, a deficiency of Co Q-10 can adversely affect physical activity, sport indices and the functioning of the immune and nervous system.