Am. Bargossi et al., EXOGENOUS COQ(10) PRESERVES PLASMA UBIQUINONE LEVELS IN PATIENTS TREATED WITH 3-HYDROXY-3-METHYLGLUTARYL COENZYME-A REDUCTASE INHIBITORS, International journal of clinical & laboratory research, 24(3), 1994, pp. 171-176
Ubiquinone is a carrier of the mitochondrial respiratory chain which r
egulates oxidative phosphorylation: it also acts as a membrane stabili
zer preventing lipid peroxidation. In man the quinone ring originates
from tyrosine, while the formation of the polyisoprenoid lateral chain
starts from acetyl CoA and proceeds through mevalonate and isopenteny
lyprophosphate; this biosynthetic pathway is the same as the cholester
ol one. We therefore performed this study to evaluate whether statins
(hypocholesterolemic drugs that inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coe
nzyme A reductase) modify blood levels of ubiquinone. Thirty unrelated
outpatients with primary hypercholesterolemia (IIa phenotype) were tr
eated with 20 mg of simvastatin for a 3-month period (group S) or with
20 mg of simvastatin plus 100 mg CoQ(10) (group US). The following pa
rameters were evaluated at time 0, and at 45 and 90 days: total plasma
cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipopr
otein-cholesterol, triglycerides, Apo A1, Apo B and CoQ(10) in plasma
and in platelets. In the S group, there was a marked decrease in total
cholesterol low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and in plasma CoQ(10)
levels from 1.08 mg/dl to 0.80 mg/dl. In contrast, in the US group we
observed a significant increase of plasma CoQ(10) (from 1.20 to 1.48
mg/dl) while the hypocholesterolemic effect was similar to that observ
ed in the S group. Platelet CoQ(10) also decreased in the S group (fro
m 104 to 90 ng/mg) and increased in the US group (from 95 to 145 ng/mg
). This study demonstrated that simvastatin lowered both low-density l
ipoprotein-cholesterol and Apo B plasma levels and plasma and platelet
levels of CoQ(10), and that CoQ(10) prevent both plasma and platelet
CoQ(10) reduction, without affecting the hypocholesterolemic effect of
simvastatin.