Statins’ effect on plasma levels of Coenzyme Q10 and improvement in myopathy with supplementation

Keywords

Statin, myopathy, myalgia, CoQ10, supplementation

Abstract

Purpose: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. HMG‐CoA reductase inhibitors, or statins, are medications at the forefront of the battle against cardiovascular disease. Despite their effectiveness, patient compliance with statins has lagged because of medication cost and adverse effects, namely myopathy. Myopathy is the most common side effect of statin use. The purpose of this review is to report plasma levels of CoQ10 in patients taking statins and then to determine the benefit of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplementation on statin‐related myopathy as evidenced by symptomatic improvement and increase in serum levels of CoQ10.

Data sources: CINAHL, Medline, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, and Cochrane Library.

Conclusions: Evidence from this review suggests that studies showed a significant relationship between statin intake and decreased serum levels of CoQ10. A few studies showed a benefit in symptoms of myalgia or improvement of serum levels of CoQ10 with supplementation. One study showed no benefit of CoQ10 supplementation when taken with statins. There were no risks of supplementation reported in any of the studies.

Implications for Practice: CoQ10 supplementation might benefit those patients suffering from statin‐induced myopathy as evidenced by the results of these studies. Supplementation of CoQ10 at a dose of between 30 and 200 mg daily has shown to have beneficial effects on statin myopathy with no noted side effects. Further research is necessary.

Original Publication Citation

Littlefield, N.**, Beckstrand, R. L., & Luthy, K. E. (2013). Statins’ effect on plasma levels of Coenzyme Q10 and improvement in myopathy with supplementation. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 26(2), 85-90.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2013-07-12

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/7978

Publisher

Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners

Language

English

College

Nursing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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