Ubiquinone and COVID-19

Ubiquinone (CoQ-10, CoQ10, MytoQ) might have strong prophylactic and/or therapeutic activity against COVID-19. People taking Ubiquinone were found to have 5.7x lower rates of hospitalization with COVID-19 in Israel. The sample was small, though, and the methodology did not allow to check for confounding medications.

Introduction

(Israel et al., 2021) is a recently published reverse observational study. It attempted to detect users of which drugs (among those that are available Israel) are not getting hospitalized with COVID-19. The cohort of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 was matched with a larger cohort from the general population. Average age was 65 in each cohort.

Surprisingly, nutritional supplement Ubiquinone came on top. People taking Ubiquinone had 5.7x lower rates of hospitalization with COVID-19. The downside of it is a small sample size – only 6 individuals taking Ubiquinone were hospitalized with COVID-19. (Israel et al., 2021) also provided an explanation:

“It is remarkable that these three drugs [Rosuvastatin, Ezetimibe, and Ubiquinone] act on the cholesterol and ubiquinone synthesis pathways, which both stem from the mevalonate pathway”

There is very little literature about Ubiquinone and COVID-19. Only one trial (Aarhus University Hospital, 2021) Coenzyme Q10 as Treatment for Long Term COVID-19 (QVID) could be identified. Theis not much literature on the topic and it suggests also other possible mechanisms of action. It is listed here without comments.

Literature Mini-Review

(Ouyang and Gong, 2020) Mitochondrial-targeted ubiquinone: A potential treatment for COVID-19

“Mitochondrial-targeted ubiquinone (MitoQ), a mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant, shows beneficial effects on various diseases through improving mitochondrial dysfunction. We hypothesize that MitoQ could act as a potential treatment in COVID-19. MitoQ may alleviate cytokine storm and restore the function of exhausted T cells in COVID-19 patients through improving mitochondrial dysfunction.”

(Mantle et al., 2021) Coenzyme Q10 and Immune Function: An Overview

(Polymeropoulos, 2020) A Potential Role of Coenzyme Q10 Deficiency in Severe SARS-CoV2 Infection

(Gvozdjakova et al., 2020) Is mitochondrial bioenergetics and coenzyme Q10 the target of a virus causing COVID-19?

(Hargreaves and Mantle, 2021)  COVID-19, Coenzyme Q10 and Selenium

Ubiquinone in the context of COVID-19 is also mentioned in (Wood et al., 2021) and (Pagano et al., 2021).

2021-11-30 update: (Saini 2011, PMCID: PMC3178961) Coenzyme Q10: The essential nutrient: “CoQ10 plays a significant role in boosting the immune system and physical performance…” – maybe

Reference

Aarhus University Hospital, 2021. Coenzyme Q10 as Treatment for Long Term COVID-19 (Clinical trial registration No. NCT04960215). clinicaltrials.gov.

Gvozdjakova, A., Klauco, F., Kucharska, J., Sumbalova, Z., 2020. Is mitochondrial bioenergetics and coenzyme Q10 the target of a virus causing COVID-19. Bratisl. Lek. Listy 121, 775–778. https://doi.org/10.4149/bll_2020_126

Hargreaves, I.R., Mantle, D., 2021. COVID-19, Coenzyme Q10 and Selenium, in: Guest, P.C. (Ed.), Identification of Biomarkers, New Treatments, and Vaccines for COVID-19, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 161–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71697-4_13

Israel, A., Schäffer, A.A., Cicurel, A., Cheng, K., Sinha, S., Schiff, E., Feldhamer, I., Tal, A., Lavie, G., Ruppin, E., 2021. Identification of drugs associated with reduced severity of COVID-19 – a case-control study in a large population. eLife 10, e68165. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.68165

Mantle, D., Heaton, R.A., Hargreaves, I.P., 2021. Coenzyme Q10 and Immune Function: An Overview. Antioxidants 10, 759. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox10050759

Ouyang, L., Gong, J., 2020. Mitochondrial-targeted ubiquinone: A potential treatment for COVID-19. Med. Hypotheses 144, 110161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110161

Pagano, G., Manfredi, C., Pallardó, F.V., Lyakhovich, A., Tiano, L., Trifuoggi, M., 2021. Potential roles of mitochondrial cofactors in the adjuvant mitigation of proinflammatory acute infections, as in the case of sepsis and COVID-19 pneumonia. Inflamm. Res. 70, 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-020-01423-0

Polymeropoulos, V., 2020. A Potential Role of Coenzyme Q10 Deficiency in Severe SARS-CoV2 Infection. OBM Integr. Complement. Med. 5, 1–1. https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.icm.2004042

Wood, E., Hall, K.H., Tate, W., 2021. Role of mitochondria, oxidative stress and the response to antioxidants in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A possible approach to SARS-CoV-2 ‘long-haulers’? Chronic Dis. Transl. Med. 7, 14–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdtm.2020.11.002

5 thoughts on “Ubiquinone and COVID-19

  1. Could L-Arginines also be something to consider in MAS syndrome?

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2527249/

    I am out of the hospital after 10 days with covid pneumonia… I used FLCCC nutraceuticals by my bedside daily in addition to the medications administered by the doctor.

    Melatonin and CoQ10 seemed to be ideal for me to take around dinner, to facilitate my falling asleep. Unfortunately,I only sleep in 1-2 hour increments; I am wired (docs say because of Dethamexazone/Decadrone)…sleeping 2 hours feels like 12… I realize I need to sleep, and I suspect high serotonin to be blocking it if it is not just left over energizing corticosteroids. I checked out of the hospital on the 31st of Dec. and my last dose of decamethazone was around lunchtime. Hoping sleep will start to come in better quality by tomorrow

    I am on day 22-23 of the FLCCC diagram, indicating I am in the late pulmonary phase. In this phase, there is risk to experience 1)Macrophage Activation Syndrome, 3) T-cell dysfunciion.. and one more thing (I am getting tired). Although I appear to be doing well, I did return to the hospital yesterday to request bloodwork and ask yet again iif my subtle, involuntairy, feelings of chest oscillatio/vascoconstricion (like a balloon that auto-inflates and deflates . Oddly, at home, I noticed that my O2 Saturation levels and heart rate also seem to be fluctuating with this “vasoconstriction” (?).So, when I am weaker (not close to vitamin supplementation, Mg pumpkin seeds, and other juices and protein bars) I have read about V/Q mismatch and the need to reprogram Mast Cells (M1–>M2)… But it is hard to get the hospital to run the ferritin test, check serotonin levels, etc… I am going to look at more options tomorrow. hopefully with all the protocol guidance, I will be able to continue with my omega 3, ASA, and natural statin (garlic?), and get more and more stable.

    Since the hospital did not want to run a ferritin test before my discharge, I am fending at home with the addition of supplements and certain foods: garlic (statin), turmeric, ASA, hydration and nutrients with, beet juice (but recently read tha beet juice might increase platelets? hmm …mine are already high at 10.2) ), huge thermos of hot ginger tea with lemon, antibacterial lip balm and hand cream.

    The FLCCC reference lists left me wth lots of follow-up info.. There are 541 scientific peer reviewed reference.
    exhausted. good sign. I am going to try to sleep again.
    (my usual mega energy is supposedly due to the corticoid steroids still in my body… but I would have liked them to have checked my serotonin levels just to be sure there is no problem there. D-dimer is good.

    ps. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2788198/ Mentions the CoQ10 link as well.

  2. Could L-Arginines also be something to consider in MAS syndrome?

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2527249/

    I am out of the hospital after 10 days with covid pneumonia… I used FLCCC neutraceuticals by my bedside daily in addition to the medications administered by the doctor.

    Melatonin and CoQ10 seemed to be ideal for me to take around dinner, to facilitate my falling asleep. Unfortunately, I am wired (docs say because of Dethamexazone/Decadrone) and sleeping 2 hours feels like 12… I realize I need to sleep, but I suspect high serotonin to be blocking it if it is not just left over energizing corticosteroids. I checked out of the hospital on the 31st of Dec. and my last dose of decamethazone was around lunchtime. Hoping sleep will start to come in better quality.

    I am on day 22-23 of the FLCCC diagram, indicating I am in the late pulmonary phase. In this phase, there is risk to experience 1)Macrophage Activation Syndrome, 3) T-cell dysfunciion.. and one more thing (I am getting tired). While I am doing well, I did return to the hospital yesterday to request bloodwork and ask if my feelings of chest oscillation (like a balloon that auto-inflates and deflates regularly) was a normal symptom experienced arfter recouvering from COVID pneumonia. Oddly, at home, I noticed that my O2 Saturation levels and heart rate also seem to be fluctuating with this “vasoconstriction” (?). I have read about V/Q mismatch and the need to reprogram Mast Cells (M1–>M2) using FLCCC recommended repurposed drugs.

    Since the hospital did not want to run a ferritin test before my discharge, I am fending at home with the addition of supplements and certain foods: garlic (statin), turmeric, ASA, hydration and nutrients with, beet juice (but recently read tha beet juice might increase platelets? hmm …mine are already high at 10.2) ), huge thermos of hot ginger tea with lemon, antibacterial lip balm and hand cream.

    The FLCCC reference lists left me wth lots of follow-up info.. There are 541 scientific peer reviewed reference. exhausted. I am going to try to sleep again. (mega energy is supposedly due to the corticoid steroids still in my body… but I would have liked them to have checked my serotonin levels.

  3. Do you know of any possible drug interactions between COQENZYME10 and medications which might be offered to COVID pneumonia patients in the hospital? Is taking ALA, CRAN or NAC in recovering COVID pneumonia patients a synergistic option or is one more preferable so as to avoid possible interactions? I spent Christmas in ICU to give you an idea of where Inam coming from. I am now in the recovering COVID ward.. hoping to be released by Dec. 31st since I am almost off oxygen completely. I have continued taking IV Rocephin, Decadron, and Lovenox. They have allowed me to add neutraceuticals: D3, Quercetin, C, Tumeric, Melatonin, Bifidobacterium probiotic….i plan to restart my CoQEnzyme 10, since it is a standard supplement at our house. I have also asked my husband to give me Resveratol, hot lemon water and Milk Thistle tea, along with non-sugary protein bars. (My pancreatic liver enzymes are high.). Glad to have pulled through this. Sharing your posts with the Hospital team at every opportunity. Thanks for being a think tank.

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