Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Dec;23(1):136-145.
doi: 10.1080/13510002.2018.1472924.

Effect of ubiquinol supplementation on biochemical and oxidative stress indexes after intense exercise in young athletes

Patrick Orlando  1 , Sonia Silvestri  1 , Roberta Galeazzi  2 , Roberto Antonicelli  3 , Fabio Marcheggiani  4 , Ilenia Cirilli  4 , Tiziana Bacchetti  1 , Luca Tiano  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of ubiquinol supplementation on biochemical and oxidative stress indexes after intense exercise in young athletes

Patrick Orlando et al. Redox Rep. 2018 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: Physical exercise significantly impacts the biochemistry of the organism. Ubiquinone is a key component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and ubiquinol, its reduced and active form, is an emerging molecule in sport nutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ubiquinol supplementation on biochemical and oxidative stress indexes after an intense bout of exercise.

Methods: 21 male young athletes (26 + 5 years of age) were randomized in two groups according to a double blind cross-over study, either supplemented with ubiquinol (200 mg/day) or placebo for 1 month. Blood was withdrawn before and after a single bout of intense exercise (40 min run at 85% maxHR). Physical performance, hematochemical parameters, ubiquinone/ubiquinol plasma content, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, paraoxonase activity and oxidative DNA damage were analyzed.

Results: A single bout of intense exercise produced a significant increase in most hematochemical indexes, in particular CK and Mb while, on the contrary, normalized coenzyme Q10 plasma content decreased significantly in all subjects. Ubiquinol supplementation prevented exercise-induced CoQ deprivation and decrease in paraoxonase activity. Moreover at a cellular level, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, ubiquinol supplementation was associated with a significant decrease in cytosolic ROS while mitochondrial membrane potential and oxidative DNA damage remained unchanged.

Discussion: Data highlights a very rapid dynamic of CoQ depletion following intense exercise underlying an increased demand by the organism. Ubiquinol supplementation minimized exercise-induced depletion and enhanced plasma and cellular antioxidant levels but it was not able to improve physical performance indexes or markers of muscular damage.

Keywords: Intense exercise; mitochondrial function; oxidative stress; paraoxonase activity; peripheral blood mononuclear cells; physical performance; reactive oxygen species; ubiquinol.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study design. T0 = base line; T40 = after a single bout of intense exercise at 85% of the maximal heart rate (HRmax).
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study design. T0 = base line; T40 = after a single bout of intense exercise at 85% of the maximal heart rate (HRmax).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Timecourse of the speedrate of runners. Speed is expressed as percentage of maximal speed recorded before supplementation (gray) and after treatment (black). Placebo (A) or 200 mg of ubiquinol (B) for 1 month.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Timecourse of the speedrate of runners. Speed is expressed as percentage of maximal speed recorded before supplementation (gray) and after treatment (black). Placebo (A) or 200 mg of ubiquinol (B) for 1 month.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distribution of average speed (A) and total time of run conducted at values equal and above 75% of the maximal speed (B). For both parameters distribution of data is represented for each of the four experimental phases.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distribution of average speed (A) and total time of run conducted at values equal and above 75% of the maximal speed (B). For both parameters distribution of data is represented for each of the four experimental phases.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Hematochemical parameters expressed as percentage of variation after a single session of intense exercise. Notes: Mb: myoglobin; CK: creatine kinase; CREA: creatine; TG: triglycerides; UA: uric acid; GLU: glucose; UREA: urea; LDL: low density lipoproteins; HDL: high-density lipoproteins; ALB: albumin; CoQ plasma content (µg/mL) and lipoprotein content (nmol CoQ/mmol Cholesterol). Data are expressed as box plot of % variation pre-post session. All variations are highly significant (p < .01) except for CoQ plasma content, NS: not significant.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Hematochemical parameters expressed as percentage of variation after a single session of intense exercise. Notes: Mb: myoglobin; CK: creatine kinase; CREA: creatine; TG: triglycerides; UA: uric acid; GLU: glucose; UREA: urea; LDL: low density lipoproteins; HDL: high-density lipoproteins; ALB: albumin; CoQ plasma content (µg/mL) and lipoprotein content (nmol CoQ/mmol Cholesterol). Data are expressed as box plot of % variation pre-post session. All variations are highly significant (p < .01) except for CoQ plasma content, NS: not significant.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Creatine kinase (CK) and Myoglobin (Mb) level at the end of session of intense exercise (t40–t0) and after placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Note: Data are expressed as % of CK and Mb variation and they are represented as box plot diagram.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Creatine kinase (CK) and Myoglobin (Mb) level at the end of session of intense exercise (t40–t0) and after placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Note: Data are expressed as % of CK and Mb variation and they are represented as box plot diagram.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Plasma levels of coenzyme Q10 normalized to cholesterol levels (A) and percentage of oxidized coenzyme Q10 (B) before and after both session of intense exercise and placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Notes: Data are respectively expressed as CoQ10 nmol/cholesterol mmol and % of CoQ10 oxidized/CoQ10 total and they are represented as box plot diagram. *Significantly different from t0; °Significantly different from pre-supplementation values; *p < .05; **/°°p < .01.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Plasma levels of coenzyme Q10 normalized to cholesterol levels (A) and percentage of oxidized coenzyme Q10 (B) before and after both session of intense exercise and placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Notes: Data are respectively expressed as CoQ10 nmol/cholesterol mmol and % of CoQ10 oxidized/CoQ10 total and they are represented as box plot diagram. *Significantly different from t0; °Significantly different from pre-supplementation values; *p < .05; **/°°p < .01.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Paraoxonase (PON1) (A) and arylesterase (ARE) activity (B) normalized to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) before and after both sessions of intense exercise and placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Mean fluorescence intensity of MitoSense Red proportional to mitochondrial membrane potential (C) and percentage of cells with high intracellular ROS content (D) after both a single session of intense exercise and during recovery (t90–150–210 min) and after placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Notes: Data are respectively expressed as Unit/milligrams of high-density lipoprotein and red or green fluorescence of cation probe and they are represented as box plot diagram. *Significantly different from t0; *p < .05; **p < .01.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Paraoxonase (PON1) (A) and arylesterase (ARE) activity (B) normalized to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) before and after both sessions of intense exercise and placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Mean fluorescence intensity of MitoSense Red proportional to mitochondrial membrane potential (C) and percentage of cells with high intracellular ROS content (D) after both a single session of intense exercise and during recovery (t90–150–210 min) and after placebo or 200 mg of ubiquinol supplementation for 1 month. Notes: Data are respectively expressed as Unit/milligrams of high-density lipoprotein and red or green fluorescence of cation probe and they are represented as box plot diagram. *Significantly different from t0; *p < .05; **p < .01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kemi OJ, Haram PM, Loennechen JP, et al. . Moderate vs. high exercise intensity: differential effects on aerobic fitness, cardiomyocyte contractility, and endothelial function. Cardiovasc Res. 2005;67:161–172. doi: 10.1016/j.cardiores.2005.03.010 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Saotome K, Seino S, Eto M, et al. . Low-volume, high-intensity, aerobic interval exercise for sedentary adults: VO2 max, cardiac mass and heart rate recovery. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2014;114:1963–1972. doi: 10.1007/s00421-014-2917-7 - DOI - PubMed
    1. American College of Sports Medicine Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41:687–708. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sies H.Oxidative stress: introductory remarks. London: Oxidative stress Academic Press; 1985; p. 1–8.
    1. Lambertucci RH, Levada-Pires AC, Rossoni LV, et al. . Effects of aerobic exercise training on antioxidant enzyme activities and mRNA levels in soleus muscle from young and aged rats. Mech Ageing Dev. 2007;128:267–275. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2006.12.006 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

-