CoQ10 helps protect the integrity of this membrane while shielding the respiratory chain from free radicals. Industrial workers regularly exposed to organic solvents that cause lipid peroxidation showed significant reductions in the HNE plus MDA blood level after taking CoQ10 supplements for four weeks. We have reviewed forty years of research on CoQ10's well-known roles in cellular energetics, antioxidant defense and cardiovascular therapy. The next installment of this article will take a look forward into the frontiers opened up by recent research on CoQ10 as a potential anti-aging therapy. Cellular Energy Generation Figure 1.
Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell.
They transform oxygen and nutrients into energy and water through a process called cellular respiration. The scientific community resisted Mitchell's unorthodox theory for many years, but in 1978 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work, and subsequent research has provided further vindication of his ideas. The pumping of protons from the first and fourth components of the chain is not yet understood, however there is evidence for a modified Q cycle in the first component. The vicious cycle of bioenergetic deficiency and oxidative stress depletes cellular vitality. Cells caught in this cycle produce little energy but a great deal of oxidative stress, and may eventually die.