Mitochondrial therapy slows the decline in patients with Parkinson’s
disease
Treating Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with high doses of coenzyme
Q10 could help to slow their functional decline, American researchers
have suggested.
Their research shows that PD patients treated with 1,200mg coenzyme Q10
daily declined to a lesser extent over a 16-month follow-up period, than
those who were given placebo (P=0.04).
The study involved 80 patients with early PD who did not require treatment
for their disability and who were randomly assigned to placebo or coenzyme
Q10 at dosages of 300mg, 600mg or 1,200mg daily. An assessment of patients
using a standard disability scale showed that only the highest dose of
coenzyme Q10 slowed decline compared with placebo, but the researchers
found there was a linear dose-response relationship (Archives of Neurology
2002;59:1541).
They conclude: “Coenzyme Q10 appears to slow the progressive deterioration
of function in PD, but these results need to be confirmed in a larger
study.” In an accompanying editorial (ibid, p1523), Dr Roger Rosenberg,
of Texas University Southwestern Medical Centre, notes that previous research
has shown reduced levels of coenzyme Q10 in the mitochondria of platelets
isolated from PD patients. He adds that the results of this latest study
could offer hope for the future: “Their data are supportive of the
view that mitochondrial dysfunction does play a role in the pathogenesis
of sporadic PD, and that further research using coenzyme Q10 at higher
dosages should be studied.”
• Vitamin E and Parkinson’s disease A prospective study published
this week in Neurology shows that the use of vitamin supplements
or a high intake of carotenoids does not appear to reduce the risk of
Parkinson’s disease. However, the researchers say that high dietary
intake of foods rich in vitamin E may be protective. They examined the
associations between vitamin intakes (both from the diet and from supplements)
and the risk of Parkinson’s disease in over 124,000 men and women.
They note, however, that the lower risk of Parkinson’s disease associated
with high dietary vitamin E intake may also be attributable to other unidentified
dietary or lifestyle factors (2002;59:1161).
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