Reducing exercise-induced muscular injury in kendo athletes with supplementation of coenzyme Q₁₀

Abstract

Intensive physical exercise may cause muscular injury and increase oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an antioxidant, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), on muscular injury and oxidative stress during exercise training. Eighteen male students, all elite Japanese kendo athletes, were randomly assigned to either a CoQ10 group (n 10) or a placebo group (n 8) in a double-blind manner. Subjects in the CoQ10 group took 300 mg CoQ10 per d for 20 d, while subjects in the placebo group took the same dosage of a placebo. All subjects practised kendo 5·5 h per d for 6 d during the experimental period. Blood samples were taken 2 weeks before, during (1 d, 3 d, 5 d) and 1 week after the training. Serum creatine kinase (CK) activity and myoglobin (Mb) concentration significantly increased in both groups (at 3 d and 5 d). Serum CK (at 3 d), Mb (at 3 d) and lipid peroxide (at 3 d and 5 d) of the CoQ10 group were lower than those of the placebo group. The leucocyte counts in the placebo group significantly increased (at 3 d) and neutrophils significantly increased in both groups (at 3 d and 5 d). Serum scavenging activity against superoxide anion did not change in either group. These results indicate that CoQ10 supplementation reduced exercise-induced muscular injury in athletes.

Effect of ubiquinol supplementation on biochemical and oxidative stress indexes after intense exercise in young athletes

“…After the first month of supplementation, both groups underwent a 60 day washout period followed by a crossover phase, where ubiquinol/placebo groups were switched. Dosage and time of supplementation are in line with previous reports on the use of CoQ 10 in sport nutrition [9,26] and 200 mg is the accepted maximal daily dose as a food supplement in Italy. The study was approved by INRCA Ethical Committee and conducted in agreement with the Helsinki Declaration on human research.…”

“…Malm et al [23] have shown that following aerobic exercise on a cycloergometer, the placebo group had an improvement in performance over the group supplemented with 120 mg/ day of CoQ 10 for 22 days. Other studies [24,25]observed no significant effects on performance, while Cooke et al [26], Gokbel et al [27] and Kon et al [9] reported positive effects of supplementation resulting in improved performance, prolonged exhaustion time and decrease in fatigue in sedentary and trained subjects undergoing different workloads.…”

“…Enhanced metabolic rate together with a rise in temperature and decrease in cellular pH could accelerate ROS production [6], particularly in mitochondria, where constitutively 1-2% oxygen is converted into superoxide anion [7]. As a result, the exercising muscle produces much larger amounts of ROS compared to the muscle at rest [8,9]. This overproduction in trained individuals is easily neutralized in a dynamic equilibrium.…”

Coenzyme Q10: multiple benefits in one ingredient

“…In another trial, oral administration of CoQ 10 improved subjective fatigue sensation and physical performance (Mizuno et al, 2008). The third article is a double blind study where a group of kendo athletes showed lower levels of CK, myoglobin and lipid peroxides compared to the corresponding values in the placebo group (Kon et al, 2008).…”

“…Besides decreasing LDL peroxidizability, CoQ 10 could have a direct antiatherosclerotic effect, in fact animal studies have shown that CoQ 10 administration attenuates aortic atherosclerotic lesions (Witting et al 2000 ;Singh et al 2000). Kon et al, 2008). One of these articles shows that following a single administration of CoQ 10 plasma levels significantly correlated with muscle CoQ 10 levels, maximal oxygen consumption and treadmill time to exhaustion.…”