Abstract
Introduction: Corticosteroid treatment slows disease progression and is the standard of care for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a potent antioxidant that may improve function in dystrophin-deficient muscle. Methods: We performed an open-label, 'add-on' pilot study of CoQ10 in thirteen 5-10-year-old DMD patients on steroids. The primary outcome measure was the total quantitative muscle testing (QMT) score. Results: Twelve of 16 children (mean age 8.03 ± 1.64 years) completed the trial. Target serum levels of CoQ10 (≥2.5 μg/ml) were shown to be subjectand administration-dependent. Nine of 12 subjects showed an increase in total QMT score. Overall, CoQ10 treatment resulted in an 8.5% increase in muscle strength (P = 0.03). Conclusions: Addition of CoQ10 to prednisone therapy in DMD patients resulted in an increase in muscle strength. These results warrant a larger, controlled trial of CoQ10 in DMD
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 174-178 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Muscle and Nerve |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Clinical trial
- CoQ10
- Duchenne muscular dystrophy
- Muscle strength testing
- Steroids
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Clinical Neurology
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
- Physiology (medical)