Stockholm: A four-year trial of CoQ10 and selenium has revealed a significant reduction in the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease among supple- mented men and women.
The study, published in the International Journal of Cardiology, also uncovered a reduction in the cardiac N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP), a biomarker of cardiomyocyte wall tension, which is elevated in congestive heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction.
In a double-blinded trial, 228 Swedish citizens received a placebo or 200 micrograms of selenium per day plus 100 milligrams of CoQ10 twice daily for 48 months.
Over 5.2 years of follow-up (which included the four-year treatment period), 5.9% of the supplemented group and 12.6% of the placebo group died of cardiovascular causes, which indi- cated a 54% adjusted risk reduction. Those in the treatment group also had lower levels of NT-proBNP compared to placebo, and better cardiac function as determined by echo- cardiography.
The authors Urban Alehagen and colleagues remark that selenium is essential for the optimal activity of TrxR1, a protein necessary for the effectiveness of CoQ10, which, in turn, is active in several metabolic pathways in the heart. The conclusion is that insufficient levels of either nutrient increases the risk of cardiovascular events.
