Coenzyme Q10 is a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant that protects membranes from free radicals and recycles the vitamin E complex vitamins (tocopherols and tocotrienols) to their active antioxidant form after they are put out of commission in fighting free radical attackers. More importantly, it is absolutely necessary to the body’s ability to produce cellular energy in the mitochondria – the power plants of every cell in your body. Without CoQ, cells cannot produce the energy they need to perform their functions, be they immune, brain, or muscle cells. CoQ is most well-known for its use in nutritional support for heart disease – especially congestive heart failure. Thirty-four controlled trials, as well as a multitude of animal experiments and open trials, attest to its power to rejuvenate the aging heart.
To get results from CoQ, however, one must not just swallow a pill, but get the CoQ10 into one’s system and into the mitochondria where they are needed. Research by Karl Folkers and Peter Langsjoen established early on that a key plasma level of 2.5 micrograms per milliliter is required to see results in advanced cardiomyopathy. But achieving this optimal level is harder than you might think. Some clinical trials using as much as 200 milligrams of dry capsule CoQ10 daily have failed to raise levels to this key therapeutic threshold. One showed how much variation there can be between individuals: subjects were administered 300 milligrams of CoQ daily as dry capsules, and their plasma levels tested. On average, this brought CoQ levels to 2.76 micrograms per milliliter, which is in the optimal zone; however, the plasma levels of individual subjects varied wildly: while one subject taking this high-dose dry capsule CoQ increased his plasma levels to 5.44 micrograms per milliliter, another subject only achieved plasma levels of 1.38 micrograms per milliliter!
This low absorption is due to way the body must handle fat-soluble nutrients like CoQ. As a fat-soluble compound, CoQ10 cannot pass directly into the blood, but must first be dissolved in some fat, and then be incorporated into micelles, which are tiny absorption “packets” formed from bile. But because of the high melting point (48oC) and relatively poor solubility of CoQ, and because the digestive system destroys some of the CoQ10 along the way, it is difficult to ensure that much of the CoQ in dry capsules will actually be dissolved, even when it is taken with a fatty meal. Further, because individuals vary in bile secretion and intestinal absorption, even well-dissolved CoQ may not be taken up adequately by many.
A liposomal delivery system for CoQ10 represents the optimal way around these problems: enclosing the CoQ10 in tiny microspheres called liposomes. Liposomes are concentric spheres of microscopic membranes, each similar to a simplified cell membrane. Because liposomes readily merge with cell membranes, nutrients encased in them do not require dissolution in fat, bile secretion, or micelle formation to be absorbed: instead, liposomes pass almost directly from the gut, through the intestinal wall, and into the blood, bringing their CoQ payload with them. Liposomes also protect much of the CoQ10 from being lost to digestive juices.
Just how effective is a liposomal delivery system for CoQ10 at getting CoQ10 where it has to go? Research performed by veteran CoQ10 researcher Dr. William V. Judy found that in just one month, 90 mg a day of a liposomal delivery system for CoQ10 can raise plasma levels to 2.64 micrograms per milliliter – levels barely achieved using 600 mg of dry capsule CoQ daily for eleven days, and not achieved in six months in some studies using 200 mg! A liposomal delivery system for CoQ10 not only worked much better than dry capsules, but also better than 90% of other softgel CoQs: better than softgels made by simply dissolving CoQ in oil, and at least as well as – and apparently better than – a micronized, hydrosoluble CoQ gel capsule formulation.
Clearly, a liposomal delivery system for CoQ10 helps ensure that you get the full benefits of CoQ10.
References
i. Langsjoen PH, Langsjoen AM. “Overview of the use of CoQ10 in cardiovascular disease.” Biofactors. 1999; 9(2-4): 273-84.
ii. Langsjoen PH, Langsjoen PH, Folkers K. “Long-term efficacy and safety of coenzyme Q10 therapy for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.” Am J Cardiol. 1990 Feb 15; 65(7): 521-3.
iii. Khatta M, Alexander BS, Krichten CM, Fisher ML, Freudenberger R, Robinson SW, Gottlieb SS. “The effect of coenzyme Q10 in patients with congestive heart failure.” Ann Intern Med. 2000 Apr 18; 132(8): 636-40.
iv. Mohr D, Bowry VW, Stocker R. “Dietary supplementation with coenzyme Q10 results in increased levels of ubiquinol-10 within circulating lipoproteins and increased resistance of human low-density lipoprotein to the initiation of lipid peroxidation.” Biochim Biophys Acta. 1992 Jun 26; 1126(3): 247-54.
v. Judy WV. “Coenzyme Q10 absorption study (Jarrow Formulas); and Dry powder and softgel CoQ10 formulations: absorption studies.” 1999; Southeastern Institute of Biomedical Research: Bradenton, FL.
vi. Shults CW, Beal MF, Fontaine D, Nakano K, Haas RH. “Absorption, tolerability, and effects on mitochondrial activity of oral coenzyme Q10 in parkinsonian patients.” Neurology. 1998 Mar; 50(3): 793-5.
