title: Coenzyme Q10 serum concentration and redox status in European adults: influence of age, sex, and lipoprotein concentration.
abstract: Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is synthesized in almost all human tissues and presumably involved in age-related alterations and diseases. Here, we examined the impact of aging and sex on the serum CoQ10 status in 860 European adults ranging in age from 18 to 82 years. We identified an inverse U-shaped relationship between CoQ10 concentration and age. Women showed lower cholesterol-adjusted CoQ10 levels than men, irrespective of age. As observed in both sexes, the decrease in CoQ10 concentration in older subjects was accompanied by a shift in the redox status in favour of the oxidized form. A strong positive correlation was found for total CoQ10 and cholesterol concentrations (Spearman's, p≤1E-74). We found strong negative correlations between total (Spearman's, p≤1E-07) and between cholesterol-adjusted CoQ10 concentration (Spearman's, p≤1E-14) and the proportion of the oxidized form of CoQ10. These correlations were not dependent on age and sex and were attenuated by supplementation with 150 mg/day reduced CoQ10 for 14 days. Overall, our results are useful to define risk groups with critical CoQ10 status in humans. In particular, older subjects were characterized by impaired CoQ10 status due to their lowered serum CoQ10 concentration and concomitant decrease of CoQ10 redox capacity.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Datteln, Witten-Herdecke University, Dr.-Friedrich-Steiner-Straße 5, D-45711 Datteln, Germany.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Niklowitz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Division of Molecular Prevention, Christian Albrechts University Kiel, Heinrich-Hecht-Platz 10, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Onur
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Division of Molecular Prevention, Christian Albrechts University Kiel, Heinrich-Hecht-Platz 10, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 6, Haus 6, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laudes
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Datteln, Witten-Herdecke University, Dr.-Friedrich-Steiner-Straße 5, D-45711 Datteln, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palussen
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Datteln, Witten-Herdecke University, Dr.-Friedrich-Steiner-Straße 5, D-45711 Datteln, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Menke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Division of Molecular Prevention, Christian Albrechts University Kiel, Heinrich-Hecht-Platz 10, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Döring
keywords: age; coenzyme Q10; oxidative stress; redox status; sex; ubiquinol