Most people think of heart aging as a plumbing problem.
Cholesterol accumulates. Arteries stiffen. Blood pressure creeps up. Eventually, the heart has to work harder to push blood through vessels that aren’t as flexible as they once were.
But some of the trouble may start much deeper — inside the tiny energy factories in your cells.
That’s because your heart depends heavily on a substance called coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, to keep producing the enormous amount of energy it needs to beat day after day.
And unfortunately, your body’s CoQ10 levels decline with age.
That matters for more than your heart’s energy supply.
Researchers say declining CoQ10 could also affect one of your blood vessels’ most important defenses against stiffness and poor circulation: nitric oxide.
Your heart needs an extraordinary amount of energy
Every cell in your body needs energy, but few organs demand as much of it as your heart.
To keep contracting around the clock, heart muscle cells are packed with mitochondria — microscopic structures that turn nutrients from food into ATP, the form of energy your cells can actually use.
CoQ10 is an essential part of that energy-making process.
It’s found throughout the body, but according to a scientific review published in the journal Antioxidants, its highest concentrations are found in the heart.
That makes sense considering the heart’s relentless workload.
But there’s a catch.
Your body’s CoQ10 levels decrease as you get older.
And researchers believe that loss could contribute to a state in which heart cells have a harder time generating the energy they need.
In people with cardiovascular disease, low CoQ10 levels have been linked with impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics and loss of cardiac contractile function.
But supplying energy to the heart is only half of CoQ10’s cardiovascular job.
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The artery-relaxing signal you don’t want to lose
Healthy arteries aren’t rigid pipes.
They’re constantly expanding and contracting in response to signals from the thin layer of cells lining your blood vessels, called the endothelium.
One of the endothelium’s most important tools is nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide sends a message to the smooth muscle surrounding your blood vessels telling it to relax. That helps your arteries widen so blood can flow more easily.
It’s one of the reasons healthy nitric oxide production is so closely connected to normal blood pressure and flexible arteries.
But nitric oxide has an enemy: oxidative stress.
When excessive reactive oxygen species accumulate in your blood vessels, they can reduce nitric oxide availability. That means less of the signal your arteries rely on to relax.
Over time, that can contribute to endothelial dysfunction — a hallmark of vascular aging associated with arterial stiffness, high blood pressure and atherosclerosis.
And this is where CoQ10’s second job becomes important.
CoQ10 helps protect both sides of the equation
CoQ10 isn’t only involved in mitochondrial energy production.
It’s also a powerful antioxidant.
Researchers believe its antioxidant activity can help reduce the reactive oxygen species that interfere with nitric oxide.
In other words, CoQ10 may support your cardiovascular system from two different directions:
It helps your mitochondria make the energy your heart needs to contract.
And it helps defend the nitric oxide signaling your arteries need to relax.
That double role may help explain why low CoQ10 has been linked to cardiovascular problems: depleted mitochondrial energy can weaken the heart’s ability to contract, while reduced nitric oxide can make it harder for blood vessels to relax.
And that combination becomes especially interesting with age.
As CoQ10 levels naturally decline, the heart could theoretically face an uncomfortable one-two punch: less support for cellular energy production at the same time oxidative stress is making it harder for blood vessels to remain flexible.
That’s one reason scientists have investigated whether restoring CoQ10 levels can make a measurable difference.
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What happens when CoQ10 levels are restored?
The research reviewed in Antioxidants included clinical studies involving people with heart failure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, endothelial dysfunction and other cardiovascular conditions.
Taken together, the evidence suggests CoQ10 supplementation can raise circulating CoQ10 levels and may help reduce oxidative stress.
Studies reviewed by the authors have also linked supplementation with improvements in endothelial function, greater nitric oxide availability, reduced vascular stiffness and lower blood pressure in some groups.
Some of the strongest evidence comes from people who already have cardiovascular disease.
For example, the researchers discuss the Q-SYMBIO trial involving 420 people with moderate-to-severe heart failure. Participants received either standard treatment plus CoQ10 or standard treatment plus placebo. After two years, the CoQ10 group experienced fewer major adverse cardiovascular events and lower cardiovascular mortality.
That doesn’t mean taking CoQ10 will prevent heart disease or a heart attack in an otherwise healthy person. The evidence is much stronger for its use as an adjunct in certain people who already have cardiovascular problems, and research on primary prevention is less definitive.
But the findings do reinforce something important:
CoQ10 isn’t simply another antioxidant floating around your bloodstream. It occupies a unique crossroads between cardiovascular energy production and vascular function.
Are you getting enough CoQ10?
Your body can manufacture CoQ10, and small amounts are also found in foods including organ meats, fatty fish, meat, nuts and some vegetables.
But dietary intake alone contributes relatively little compared with the amount your body produces.
That’s why age-related declines — and certain medications that can interfere with the same biochemical pathway used to produce CoQ10 — have attracted so much attention.
Statins are the best-known example. Because statins inhibit the mevalonate pathway involved in cholesterol production, they can also reduce CoQ10 synthesis.
But if you’re on statins or any medication or being treated for a condition, consult your physician. And never stop taking a prescribed medication unless directed by your physician to do so.
The bigger takeaway is one that’s easy to overlook….
Protecting your heart isn’t solely about keeping something bad — like cholesterol — out of your arteries.
It’s also about helping your heart and blood vessels maintain the things they need to function well.
And CoQ10 appears to sit right in the middle of two of them: the energy that keeps your heart beating and the nitric oxide that helps keep your arteries flexible.
Source:
The Use of Coenzyme Q10 in Cardiovascular Diseases — Antioxidants
FAQ: CoQ10 and your heart
What does CoQ10 do for the heart?
CoQ10 helps mitochondria produce ATP, the energy cells use to function. The heart has especially high energy demands and contains some of the body’s highest concentrations of CoQ10. CoQ10 also acts as an antioxidant and may help protect nitric oxide availability and blood-vessel function.
Does CoQ10 decrease with age?
Yes. Research indicates that endogenous CoQ10 levels decline as we age, which is one reason scientists are interested in its possible role in age-related cardiovascular changes.
Can CoQ10 improve blood flow?
Research reviewed in Antioxidants suggests CoQ10 may support endothelial function in part by reducing oxidative stress and increasing nitric oxide availability, helping blood vessels dilate normally.
Can CoQ10 lower blood pressure?
Some clinical studies and meta-analyses have found improvements in blood pressure with CoQ10 supplementation, although results vary and CoQ10 should not be used as a replacement for prescribed blood-pressure medication.
Should you take CoQ10 if you use a statin?
Statins can reduce CoQ10 synthesis, but evidence that supplementation consistently prevents or relieves statin-associated muscle symptoms remains mixed. Talk with your healthcare provider about whether CoQ10 makes sense for you.
Is CoQ10 safe?
CoQ10 has generally been well tolerated in clinical studies, but it can interact with medications, including warfarin. Check with your healthcare provider before supplementing if you take prescription medications.
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