Coenzyme Q10 May Help Chronic Pain

by | Jun 26, 2013 | 2013, Antioxidants, CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10), Fibromyalgia

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Out of 20 fibromyalgic patients, those who supplemented with 300 mg of Enzyme CoQ10 for 40 days, experienced a 52 % reduction in pain, a 47% reduction in fatique, and a 44% reduction in morning tiredness compared to placebo.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome that can be accompanied by fatigue, headache, sleep disturbances, and depression. Despite the fact that it affects up to 2% of Americans at a cost of $5,945 per patient each year (1), the cause of fibromyalgia has yet to be found. Research has started to suggest that cell damage by free radicals and improper function of the energy-making component of the cell, the mitochondrion, may contribute to the onset of fibromyalgia (2, 3).

Now a new randomized double-blind study (4) suggests that Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) may benefit patients with fibromyalgia. In the study, 20 patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia were given 300 mg of CoQ10 (10 patients) or placebo (10 patients) per day for 40 days. To determine whether CoQ10 was beneficial, the researchers received feedback from the patients through a fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) (5) that included information on pain, fatigue, and morning tiredness.

By the end of the forty days, those in the CoQ10 group saw a 52% decrease in their total FIQ score (57 to 27) compared to a 21.3% increase in the placebo group (61 to 74, p < 0.001). This broke down to:

  • 52% decrease in pain (7.4 to 3.8) compared to a 21.3% in the placebo group (61 to 74, p < 0.001)
  •  47% decrease in fatigue (8.3 to 4.4) compared to a 14.5% decrease in the placebo group (7.6 to 6.5, p < 0.01)
  • 44% decrease in morning tiredness (8.1 to 4.5) compared to a 3.9% increase in the placebo group (5.1 to 5.3, p < 0.01)

Perhaps just as important was the revelation of CoQ10’s effect on the activity of an enzyme called AMPK.  AMPK is called “the master regulator of cell energy levels” and it is activated when the energy currency of the cell, called ATP, is low. AMPK increases the use of both sugar and fat-burning in the cell to increase ATP levels and improve activity of the energy-making component of the cell, the mitochondrion. In this study, those in the CoQ10 group saw their AMPK activity levels increase by 65.7% (108 to 179 arbitrary units) compared to no change in the placebo group (115 to 116, p < 0.01).

For the researchers, “COQ10 supplementation improves the clinical symptoms of fibromyalgia and we can hypothesize a pivotal role of AMPK in the pathophysiology of this disease.” It needs to be noted, however, that this should be seen as a preliminary study, due to the extremely small patient size (20 patients) and that a larger study must be done before serious consideration can be given for CoQ10 as a viable treatment option for fibromyalgia patients.

Source: Cordero, Mario D., et al. “Can coenzyme q10 improve clinical and molecular parameters in fibromyalgia?.” (2013): 1356-1361.

© 2012 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.   All rights reserved, USA and worldwide.

Posted June 26, 2013.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. “Fibromyalgia” posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website.
  2. Cordero MD, de Miguel M, Carmona-Lo´pez I, Bonal P, Campa F, and Moreno-Ferna´ndez AM. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in fibromyalgia. Neuro Endocrinol Lett 31: 169–173, 2010.
  3. Cordero MD, Dı´az-Parrado E, Carrio´n AM, Alfonsi S, Sa´nchez-Alcazar JA, Bullo´n P, Battino M, and de Miguel M. Is inflammation a mitochondrial dysfunction-dependent event in Fibromyalgia? Antioxid Redox Signal 18: 800–807, 2012.
  4. Can Coenzyme Q10 Improve Clinical and Molecular Parameters in Fibromyalgia? Antioxid Redox Signal 2013 Apr 6. [Epub ahead of print]
  5. “Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire” posted on the American College of Rheumatology website.
  6. Hardie DG, Ross FA, and Hawley SA. AMPK: a nutrient and energy sensor that maintains energy homeostasis. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 13: 251–262, 2012.