RE: Parkinson's and mito--4 abstracts

[Guest guest]

Barbara-

Thanks so much for sending the articles! I will print them out and share

them with our friend.

Blessings,

[Guest guest]

Here are four of the more recent citations and abstracts on Parkinson's, Q10

and mito. Dosage included.

B

Shults CW, Flint Beal M, Song D, Fontaine D. Pilot trial of high dosages of

coenzyme Q10 in patients with Parkinson's disease. Exp Neurol. 2004

Aug188(2):491-4 The safety and tolerability of high dosages of coenzyme Q10

were studied in 17 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in an open label

study. The subjects received an escalating dosage of coenzyme Q10--1200,

1800, 2400, and 3000 mg/day with a stable dosage of vitamin E

(alpha-tocopherol) 1200 IU/day. The plasma level of coenzyme Q10 was

measured at each dosage. Thirteen of the subjects achieved the maximal

dosage, and adverse events were typically considered to be unrelated to

coenzyme Q10. The plasma level reached a plateau at the 2400 mg/day dosage

and did not increase further at the 3000 mg/day dosage. Our data suggest

that in future studies of coenzyme Q10 in PD, a dosage of 2400 mg/day (with

vitamin E/alpha-tocopherol 1200 IU/day) is an appropriate highest dosage to

be studied.

Winkler-Stuck K, Wiedemann FR, Wallesch CW, Kunz WS. Effect of coenzyme Q10

on the mitochondrial function of skin fibroblasts from Parkinson patients. J

Neurol Sci. May2004;220(1-2):41-8. Several lines of evidence suggest an

impairment of mitochondrial function in the brain of patients with

Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the presence of a detectable

mitochondrial defect in extracerebral tissue of these patients remains a

matter of dispute. Therefore, we investigated mitochondrial function in

fibroblasts of 18 PD patients applying biochemical micromethods. Putative

beneficial effects of coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)), a potent antioxidant, on the

mitochondrial function of skin fibroblast cultures were evaluated. Applying

inhibitor titrations of the mitochondrial respiration to calculate flux

control coefficients of respiratory chain complexes I and IV, we observed

deficiencies of both complexes in cultivated skin fibroblasts of PD

patients. Cultivation of fibroblasts in the presence of 5 microM CoQ(10)

restored the activity of impaired respiratory chain complexes in the

fibroblast cultures of 9 out of 18 PD patients. Our data support the

presence of a generalised mitochondrial defect in at least a subgroup of

patients with PD that can be partially ameliorated in vitro by coenzyme

Q(10) treatment.

Shults CW, Oakes D, Kieburtz K, Beal MF, Haas R, et al. Effects of coenzyme

Q10 in early Parkinson disease: evidence of slowing of the functional

decline. Arch Neurol 2002 Oct59(10):1541-50 BACKGROUND: Parkinson disease

(PD) is a degenerative neurological disorder for which no treatment has been

shown to slow the progression. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a range of

dosages of coenzyme Q10 is safe and well tolerated and could slow the

functional decline in PD. DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized, parallel-group,

placebo-controlled, double-blind, dosage-ranging trial. SETTING: Academic

movement disorders clinics. PATIENTS: Eighty subjects with early PD who did

not require treatment for their disability. INTERVENTIONS: Random assignment

to placebo or coenzyme Q10 at dosages of 300, 600, or 1200 mg/d. MAIN

OUTCOME MEASURE: The subjects underwent evaluation with the Unified

Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) at the screening, baseline, and 1-,

4-, 8-, 12-, and 16-month visits. They were followed up for 16 months or

until disability requiring treatment with levodopa had developed. The

primary response variable was the change in the total score on the UPDRS

from baseline to the last visit. RESULTS: The adjusted mean total UPDRS

changes were +11.99 for the placebo group, +8.81 for the 300-mg/d group,

+10.82 for the 600-mg/d group, and +6.69 for the 1200-mg/d group. The P

value for the primary analysis, a test for a linear trend between the dosage

and the mean change in the total UPDRS score, was.09, which met our

prespecified criteria for a positive trend for the trial. A prespecified,

secondary analysis was the comparison of each treatment group with the

placebo group, and the difference between the 1200-mg/d and placebo groups

was significant (P =.04). CONCLUSIONS: Coenzyme Q10 was safe and well

tolerated at dosages of up to 1200 mg/d. Less disability developed in

subjects assigned to coenzyme Q10 than in those assigned to placebo, and the

benefit was greatest in subjects receiving the highest dosage. Coenzyme Q10

appears to slow the progressive deterioration of function in PD, but these

results need to be confirmed in a larger study.

Muller T, Buttner T, Gholipour AF, Kuhn W. Coenzyme Q10 supplementation

provides mild symptomatic benefit in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Neurosci Lett. May2003;341(3) 201-4. Features of Parkinson's disease (PD)

include oxidative stress, nigral mitochondrial complex I deficiency and

visual dysfunction, all of which are also associated with coenzyme Q(10)

(CoQ(10)) deficiency. The objective of this monocenter, parallel group,

placebo controlled, double-blind trial was to determine the symptomatic

response of daily oral application of 360 mg CoQ(10) lasting 4 weeks on

scored PD symptoms and visual function, measured with the Farnsworth-Munsell

100 Hue test (FMT), in 28 treated and stable PD patients. CoQ(10)

supplementation provided a significant (P=0.01) mild symptomatic benefit on

PD symptoms and a significantly (F((1,24))=8.48, P=0.008) better improvement

of FMT performance compared with placebo. Our results indicate a moderate

beneficial effect of oral CoQ(10) supplementation in PD patients.

_____

From: LILQT4U1984@...

Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 9:10 AM

To:

Subject: Parkinson's and mito link

Does anyone have a good article about the link between these two diseases?

Also what the reccomended dosage of CoQ10 if for Parkinson's. A friend of

ours

was recently diagnosed and I wanted to share this info with him.

Thanks in advance!