CoenzymeQ10 Protects Brain Cells:
The source of life and death for neurons (nerve
cells) lies in the mitochondria. These tiny organelles generate the
neuron's energy and control its death. The mitochondria tend to develop
defects with age. As these defects accumulate, they cause increasing
mitochondrial dysfunction in the non-dividing cells of the brain, heart
and muscle. The result is reduced cellular energy production and
increased cell death, as occurs in neurodegenerative disease and stroke.
Recent research provides us with an opportunity to protect against this
destructive process by minimizing mitochondrial dysfunction and
preventing other pathological events that cause brain cells to die.
A review article in Brain Research Reviews
on the role of the mitochondria in neurodegeneration notes that “it is
becoming clear that subtle functional alterations in these essential
cellular dynamos can lead to insidious pathological changes in neurons”
(Cassarino DS et al., 1999).
The authors outline a theory of neurodegeneration based upon a vicious
cycle of mitochondrial DNA mutation, bioenergetic decline and oxidative
stress. Their recommendations echo the antiaging functions of Coenzyme
Q10
discussed in the previous installments of this series, namely improving
cellular respiration, normalizing or preventing oxidative stress, and
inhibiting programmed cell death.
If aging and neurodegeneration have similar basic causes,
neurodegeneration research could turn out to be a laboratory for
understanding the processes of aging and how to influence them. However,
the physiology of the brain is in certain ways unique, and its
pathologies present some unique mechanisms and features.
The brain is especially vulnerable to oxidative stress due to its
rich oxygen supply and high fatty acid content. It would seem logical
that the brain’s antioxidant defense system would be especially robust.
Unfortunately, the opposite is the case. The brain is relatively
underdefended against oxidative stress. Consequently neurons, which are
for the most part irreplaceable, gradually accumulate oxidative damage
over time.
The brain’s vulnerability increases with age. Most of the fatty acid
content of the brain is contained in the membranes that surround brain
cells, their extensions (such as axons) and the mitochondria. As we age,
more of these lipids become polyunsaturated, which makes them more
susceptible to lipid peroxidation. Polyunsaturated fats exposed to the
brain’s rich supply of oxygen and oxygen byproducts are like dry tinder
near fire.
Oxidative stress and bioenergetic failure are fundamental to
neurodegeneration. Scientists use neurotoxins that work in just these
ways to mimic neurological diseases in lab animals. Coenzyme Q10 protects lab
animals from the effects of such neurotoxins, according to a series of
studies by neurologist M. Flint Beal and colleagues at the Massachusetts
General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. They found that the
neurotoxins malonate, 3-NP and MTPT inflicted significantly less brain
damage on animals treated with Coenzyme Q10. Beal’s studies provided the first
demonstration that oral Coenzyme Q10 supplements exert neuroprotective effects
in the living brain, and significantly raise Coenzyme Q10 levels in brain
tissue and brain mitochondria.
See References
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