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Review
. 2023 Sep 15;15(18):3990.
doi: 10.3390/nu15183990.

Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation in Athletes: A Systematic Review

Matheus Santos de Sousa Fernandes  1   2 , Débora Eduarda da Silvia Fidelis  2 , Felipe J Aidar  3 , Georgian Badicu  4 , Gianpiero Greco  5 , Stefania Cataldi  5 , Gabriela Carvalho Jurema Santos  6 , Raphael Frabrício de Souza  3 , Luca Paolo Ardigò  7
Affiliations
Review

Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation in Athletes: A Systematic Review

Matheus Santos de Sousa Fernandes et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background: To summarize available evidence in the literature on the impacts of CoQ10 supplementation on metabolic, biochemical, and performance outcomes in athletes.

Methods: Six databases, Cochrane Library (33 articles), PubMed (90 articles), Scopus (55 articles), Embase (60 articles), SPORTDiscus (1056 articles), and Science Direct (165 articles), were researched. After applying the eligibility criteria, articles were selected for peer review independently as they were identified by June 2022. The protocol for this systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022357750).

Results: Of the 1409 articles found, 16 were selected for this systematic review. After CoQ10 supplementation, a decrease in oxidative stress markers was observed, followed by higher antioxidant activity. On the other hand, lower levels of liver damage markers (ALT); Aspartate aminotransferase (AST); and Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γGT) were identified. Finally, we found a reduction in fatigue indicators such as Creatine Kinase (CK) and an increase in anaerobic performance.

Conclusions: This systematic review concludes that supplementation with orally administered CoQ10 (30-300 mg) was able to potentiate plasma antioxidant activity and anaerobic performance, reducing markers linked to oxidative stress and liver damage in athletes from different modalities aged 17 years old and older.

Keywords: exercise; physical activity; physical training; sports nutrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA 2020 flow diagram for new systematic reviews, which included searches of databases and registers only. Consider, if feasible to do so, reporting the number of records identified from each database or register searched (rather than the total number across all databases/registers). ** If automation tools were used, indicate how many records were excluded by a human and how many were excluded by automation tools.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Impacts of Coenzyme Q10 supplementation on body composition, biochemical and performance outcomes of athletes from different modalities. BMI: Body Mass Index; mg: milligrams.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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This research received no external funding.
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