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Water Soluble Form of Coenzyme Q10 Suggested for Migraine Prophylaxis: Presented at IHC

By Larry Schuster

ROME, ITALY -- September 30, 2003 -- Coenzyme Q10, a compound that is involved in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, was found to be effective for migraine prophylaxis in a small double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study.

Peter S. Sandor, department of neurology, University Hospitals Zurich, presented the results here on September 16^th at the 11^th Congress of the International Headache Society.

"The trial follows previous studies that showed effective migraine prophylaxis with high-dose riboflavine, also a coenzyme in mitochondrial metabolism (Neurology 1998;50(2):466-470)," said Dr. Sandor.

For this study, researchers used a new water-soluble form of coenzyme Q10 at 100 mg 3 times daily for migraine prophylaxis. After a 1-month placebo baseline period, 21 patients with migraine were randomised to placebo, and 21 to Q10 treatment for 3 months.

Of the Q10 group, 47.6% of the patients had a 50% response for attack frequency, compared to 14.3% for the placebo group, resulting in a therapeutic gain of about 33.3%. "A 50% response rate was calculated as a 50% reduction in attack frequency from the one month of placebo at the beginning of the study to the third month of the randomised trial," Dr. Sandor said.

"Q10 was well tolerated, although one person developed a cutaneous allergy, and withdrew from the trial," he said.

Larger, randomised, controlled trials, and dose-finding trials are needed to better determine the most efficacious dose of this therapy, Dr. Sandor concluded.


[Study title: Coenzyme Q10 for Migraine Prophylaxis: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Abstract 5.2]

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