81% Positive Response to Coenzyme Q10 Treatment for Chronic Kidney Failure

[Guest guest]

81% Positive Response to Coenzyme Q10 Treatment for Chronic Kidney Failure

_http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/n_coq10-kidney_failure.html_

(http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/n_coq10-kidney_failure.html)

Ninety-seven patients (mean age, 48 years) with chronic renal failure

(serum creatinine > 5 mg/dl), with a history of declining renal function for at

least 12 weeks, were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind

fashion, _water-soluble coenzyme Q10_

(http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/coenzymeq10.html) (CoQ10; 60 mg, 3 times

per day orally) (Q-Gel) or placebo for 12

weeks.

The 45 patients who were receiving hemodialysis at the start of the study

were encouraged to decrease the frequency or stop dialysis if there was an

increase in urine output and a decrease in serum creatinine of more than 2

mg/dl. In the patients receiving hemodialysis and CoQ10, the mean serum

creatinine concentration decreased from 9.5 to 6.7 mg/dl; mean BUN decreased

from 88.2 to 79.8 mg/dl; mean creatinine clearance increased from 40 to 54.9

ml/min; and 24-hour urine output increased from 1,300 to 1,920 ml. Renal

function tended to worsen in hemodialysis patients receiving placebo, and

the differences in the changes between groups were significant (p < 0.01 to p

< 0.001).

Significant improvements in each of these parameters relative to the

placebo group were also seen in the non-dialysis patients treated with CoQ10.

The number of patients receiving dialysis decreased from 21 to 12 in the

CoQ10 group, and remained unchanged at 24 in the placebo group (p < 0.02).

Eighty-one percent of the patients receiving CoQ10 had a positive response to

treatment.

Comment by Alan R. Gaby MD:

These results suggest that _hydrosoluble CoenzymeQ10_

(http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/coenzymeq10.html) (Q-Gel) can improve

renal function and

reduce the need for dialysis in patients with chronic renal failure. The

public-health implications of this study are enormous, considering that chronic

renal failure is a serious and debilitating disease and that the annual

cost of dialysis in the United States is more than $22 billion.

According to Dr. Singh, lead author of this study (Interview with Kirk

Hamilton; Clinical Pearls News, August, 2001, pp. 128-9), CoQ10 is usually

effective if pre-treatment urine output, with or without furosemide, is at

least 1,000 ml/day. However, if urine output is less than 500 ml/day, then

CoQ10 usually does not work, presumably because the kidney has been

irreversibly damaged.

Dr. Singh recommends that all patients with renal failure take 180 mg/day

of water-soluble CoQ10 (Q-Gel) if their urine output is greater than 500

ml/day on dialysis. If urine output increases to 1,000 ml/day within 12

weeks, then CoQ10 is likely to be effective. Patients should be able to stop

dialysis within 12-48 weeks if the urine output goes above 1,500 ml/day. If

urine output does not increase in 12 weeks, then CoQ10 is unlikely to be

effective.

While the mechanism by which CoQ10 improves renal function is not clear,

it may work by improving cellular bioenergetics. Large controlled trials are

urgently needed.

[Thus we hypothesize that using the full Metabolic Optimizer protocol with

Ubiquinol instead of standard CoQ10 may have an even greater effect.]

Comment by LEF

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the researchers

found CoQ10 treatment decreased progression and reversed renal dysfunction

in a majority of patients with end-stage disease, many of whom were able to

discontinue dialysis over the course of the 12-week trial. The report

followed up on a pilot study the scientists published in 2000 involving a

smaller number of subjects.

End-stage kidney disease produces marked organ contraction and progressive

dysfunction, with corresponding increases in levels of serum creatinine

and blood urea nitrogen. Levels of toxic waste products accumulate in the

blood because the kidneys cannot clear them from the body.

Dr. Singh and his colleagues documented significantly lower levels of

serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen in the CoQ10-treated patients, with

increases in creatinine clearance and urine output regardless of patient

dialysis or baseline status. More significantly, only half the number of CoQ10

patients required dialysis at the end of the study when compared to

subjects receiving placebo.

The researchers also reported considerable increases in the antioxidant

vitamins E and C and beta-carotene in treated subjects, while plasma levels

of oxidative stress such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, diene

conjugates, and malondialdehyde all fell dramatically.

Although one in five patients did not respond, the researchers concluded

that CoQ10 Q-Gel supplementation improves renal function in end-stage

patients regardless of dialysis status, and can delay or avert the need for

dialysis. They suggested that higher doses than those used in their study (180

mg per day) might result in even greater improvement and response in others.

Reference:

Singh RB, et al. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of

coenzyme CoQ10 in patients with end-stage renal failure. J Nutr Environ Med

2003;13:13-22.

Reprinted with exclusive permission of TOWNSEND LETTER for DOCTORS and

PATIENTS - OCTOBER 2005.

Reprinted with exclusive permission of LEF - Aug 2004.