CoQ10 may fight high blood pressure
09/2016
Daniella Barker, MS and José E. Rodríguez, MD at FSU College of Medicine in Tallahassee, Florida published an article in Florida State University Libraries indicating that taking Coenzyme CoQ10 supplements may significantly lower high blood in patients with high blood pressure or hypertension. Regardless, the authors do not recommend use of CoQ10 as an antihypertensive agent because of potential bias in the studies they reviewed.
High blood pressure or hypertension is known to be a risk factor for stroke and some other health conditions. The article overviews three trial studies that demonstrated the antihypertensive effect of CoQ10. In the trials, people with primary hypertension (systolic blood pressure [SBP] greater than 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure [DBP] greater than 90 mmHg took CoQ10 in a dose of 100 to 120 mg per day alone or along with additional antihypertensive medications for at least three weeks.
It was found that CoQ10 lowered systolic blood pressure by an average of 10 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 6.6 mmHg, compared with placebo. The reductions in blood pressure are clinically significant and they can in turn lower the risk of cardiovascular events significantly. In one trial, CoQ10 as found to reduce the hypertensive patients' heart rate by 12 beats per minute.
The authors believe though that there were biases in these studies and for that reason they would not recommend using CoQ10 as a supplement to lower high blood in patients with hypertension. However, they acknowledge that they could not find any studies that either disprove the efficacy of CoQ10 on the lowering of blood pressure.
Recent evidence suggests that CoQ10 can render an antihypertensive effect. For instance, a new study conducted by Chinese researchers and published in Scientific Reports shows CoQ10 may attenuate saltinduced high blood pressure, to say the least.
This is an animal study in which rats were fed either a normal diet or a high salt diet (8% salt) supplemented with CoQ10 or nothing for a period of 15 weeks. The dose was 10 mg/kg/day.
The study finds that high salt resulted in higher mean arterial pressure and some sympathetic nerve activity. The high salt diet also led to an increase in some proinflammatory cytokines and neurotransmitters that are involved in pathogenesis of high blood pressure. The CoQ10 supplementation was found to restore neurotransmitters and cytokines, leading to the attenuation of saltinduced hypertension. (David Liu)
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Supplements/coq10_may_fight_high_blood_pressure_0921160159.html?print