RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL OF COENZYME-Q10 IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

The effects of oral treatment with coenzyme Q10 (120 mg/d) were compar ed for 28 days in 73 (intervention group A) and 71 (placebo group B) p atients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). After treatment, angin a pectoris (9.5 vs. 28.1), total arrhythmias (9.5% vs. 25.3%), and poo r left ventricular function (8.2% vs. 22.5%) were significantly (P < 0 .05) reduced in the coenzyme Q group than placebo group. Total cardiac events, including cardiac deaths and nonfatal infarction, were also s ignificantly reduced in the coenzyme Q10 group compared with the place bo group (15.0% vs. 30.9%, P < 0.02). The extent of cardiac disease, e levation in cardiac enzymes, and oxidative stress at entry to the stud y were comparable between the two groups. Lipid peroxides, diene conju gates, and malondialdehyde, which are indicators of oxidative stress, showed a greater reduction in the treatment group than in the placebo group. The antioxidants vitamin A, E, and C and beta-carotene, which w ere lower initially after AMI, increased more in the coenzyme Q10 grou p than in the placebo group. These findings suggest that coenzyme Q10 can provide rapid protective effects in patients with AMI if administe red within 3 days of the onset of symptoms. More studies in a larger n umber of patients and long-term follow-up are needed to confirm our re sults.