Effect of the reduced form of coenzyme Q10 on type 2 diabetes

Kaneka Corporation (headquarters : Osaka, Japan; President: Mr. Kimikazu Sugawara) confirmed the effects of the reduced form of coenzyme Q10 (hereafter, Ubiquinol) in improving the type 2 diabetes. The research was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Koutarou Yokote, Department of Clinical Cell Biology and Medicine, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, and Assistant Prof. Minoru Takemoto, Department of Diabetes, Metabolism and Endocrinology, Chiba University Hospital. These results were presented at “The 54th Annual Meeting of the Japan Diabetes Society” held in Sapporo from May 19th through 21st, 2011.

Nine patients (3 males, 6 females, average age: 62 years old) with type 2 diabetes taking oral diabetic drugs were administered Ubiquinol (200mg/day) for 3 months. General examinations (weight, abdominal circumference and blood pressure) and hematological examinations (glycoalbumin, HbA1, fasting blood glucose, insulin, etc.) were performed before and after 3 months of the treatment. As a result, statistically significant improvement or tendency to improvement in laboratory test values for glucose metabolism were observed after 3 months of the treatment compared with baseline values before the treatment, as described below.

○ Glycoalbumin: Baseline → After 3 months treatment: 19.4±2.7% → 17.8±2.7% (Significant improvement of about 8.2%)
○ HbA1: Baseline → After 3 months treatment: 6.7±0.4% → 6.5±0.4% (Significant improvement of about 3.4%)
○ Insulin: (μU/mL): Baseline → After 3 months treatment: 8.8±3.4 % → 11.6±6.7% (Tendency to improvement of about 31.7%)
No effect on fasting blood glucose was observed.

Although there were only nine patients in this study, glycemic control was improved. The results of this preliminary study strongly suggests that Ubiquinol is effective in suppressing the blood glucose change after a meal, although further studies are necessary to confirm it.