TABLE 2.
Summary of the CoQ10 interventions administered in the study treatment arms of the retrieved trials.
| First author(year) | Population | Duration | CoQ10 product/manufacturer | Daily CoQ10 dose (per-protocol N) | Control (per-protocol N) | Fatigue outcome measurement (score range) | AE associated with CoQ10 withdrawal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berman (2004) | End-stage heart failure | 3 months | Ultrasome capsules/Herbamed Ltd. (Israel) | 60 mg/day (13) | Matching placebo (14) | Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire fatigue score (0-5) | One ultrasome-induced intestinal upset withdrawal |
| Lee (2011) | Obesity | 12 weeks | Ubiquinone/Daewoong Pharmacy (Korea) | 200 mg/day (17) | Matching placebo (19) | Fatigue Severity Scale (9-63) | No |
| Cordero (2013) | Fibromyalgia | 40 days | CoQ10 capsules/Pharma Nord (Denmark) | 300 mg/day (10) | Matching placebo (10) | Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire fatigue score (0-10) | No |
| Lesser (2013) | Breast cancer under chemotherapy | 24 weeks | CoQ10/Soft Gel Technologies (USA) |
300 mg/day (78) | Matching placebo (61) | Profile of Mood States fatigue subscale (0-4) | No. All AE-related withdrawals were due to chemotherapy based on the investigators’ review. |
| Castro-Marrero (2015) | Chronic fatigue syndrome | 8 weeks | ReConnect/Vitae Natural Nutrition (Spain) | 200 mg/day with 20 mg/day NADH (39) | Matching placebo (34) | Fatigue Impact Scale (0-160) | No |
| Fukuda (2015) | End-stage renal disease | 12 weeks | AMP01/Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical Corporation (Japan) | Nutritional drink with 30 mg/day CoQ10 (87) | Matching placebo (86) | Fatigue Scale (0-32) | No. All AE and withdrawals were not associated with the study intervention (which was conducted by a safety monitoring board). AE-associated withdrawal: CoQ10 6/97, placebo 5/99 |
| Peel (2015) | Poliomyelitis | 60 days | CoQ10 capsules/Health World Limited (Australia) | 100 mg/day (54) a | Matching placebo (49) | Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (1-50) | No. All AEs were not associated with CoQ10 supplementation. AE: CoQ10 7/54, placebo 5/49. AE-associated withdrawal: CoQ10 5/54, placebo 2/49 |
| Sanoobar (2016) | Multiple sclerosis | 12 weeks | CoQ10 capsules/not mentioned | 500 mg/day (22) | Matching placebo (23) | Fatigue Severity Scale (9-63) | No |
| Di Pierro (2017) | Fibromyalgia | 3 months | DDM Chinone® sachets/Labomar (Italy) | 400 mg/day (12) | Comparable placebo (10) | Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (0-44) | No |
| Morikawa (2019) | Healthy subjects | 8 weeks | Uniquinol soft capsules/Kaneka, Inc. (Japan) | 100 mg/day (24) | Matching placebo (28) | Fatigue Visual Analogue Scale (0-10) | No. All AEs were not associated with the treatment. AE: CoQ10 8/30, placebo 6/30 |
| Mizuno (2020) | Healthy individuals with fatigue | 12 weeks | Uniquinol soft capsules/Kaneka, Inc. (Japan) | 150 mg/day (22) 100 mg/day (20) |
Matching placebo (20) | Fatigue Visual Analogue Scale (0-100) | No |
| Mousavi (2020) | Nurses with fatigue | 4 weeks | CoQ10 capsules/Nutri Century (Canada) | 200 mg/day (54) | Matching placebo (51) | Nurses' fatigue scale (21-105) | No |
| Castro-Marrero (2021) | Chronic fatigue syndrome | 8 weeks | ReConnect/Vitae Health Innovation (Spain) | 200 mg/day with 20 mg/day NADH (72) | Matching placebo (72) | Fatigue Impact Scale (0-160) | No. All AEs were not associated with the treatment. AE-associated withdrawal: CoQ10+NADH 8/104, placebo 11/103 |
AE, adverse events; CoQ10, coenzyme Q10; NADH, reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide; USA, United States of America
a
The total number of subjects enrolled in the CoQ10 group was retrieved based on data reported in Figure 1 and Table 2, due to inconsistency in Table 1.