When Will The New Crown Medicine Rush Stop Shopping? Coenzyme Q10 Is ''popular'' And Out Of Stock

The development of the times is changing rapidly, and after the adjustment of the new crown epidemic prevention policy, it is even more difficult to predict which medicine will become popular. Following the shortage of Lianhua Qingwen, montmorillonite scatter, and propylene ball, coenzyme Q10 also began to become popular.

It is reported that the search volume of "coenzyme Q10" keywords on e-commerce platforms increased by 2500%, and the sales of coenzyme Q of many brands such as Dotbes, Beijing Tongrentang, and healthycare under Jindawei on Taobao exceeded 10,000 in October.

 

What is CoQ10 sacred?

Coenzyme Q10 (coenzyme Q10), called vitamin Q, is a substance that occurs naturally in the human body, widely present in cell membranes, especially mitochondrial membranes, mainly distributed in the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas and adrenal glands

In 1957, American biochemist Dr. Frederick Crane extracted a quinone substance from the mitochondria of bovine hearts, which was the first time humans discovered the existence of coenzyme Q10.

In 1958, Merck senior researcher Dr. Karl Folkers and colleagues formally determined the chemical structure of coenzyme Q10, for which Dr. Karl Folkers received the Priestly Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society.

In 1961, Edinburgh student chemist Peter D. Mitchell, Ph.D., found that coenzyme Q10 exists in the mitochondria of any cell in the study of energy transfer in biological systems and plays a very important role in the production and delivery of human cellular energy.

Coenzyme Q10 has two forms, oxidized and reduced, of which oxidized coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone) mainly exists in the mitochondria, participates in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the decomposition of fats for energy, and assists in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that directly supplies energy to cells, thereby maintaining normal physiological activities of cells.

Reduced coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinol) is mainly found in damaged cells, lymph, and blood, where it can absorb excess oxygen radicals. 95% of the coenzyme Q10 in the human blood exists in the form of ubiquinol, ubiquinone needs to be converted to ubiquinol to be active, ubiquinol is the real role of coenzyme Q10.

It is worth mentioning that in the process of transforming coenzyme Q10 from reduced to oxidized form, it absorbs a part of oxygen free radicals, resulting in antioxidant effects.

In general, coenzyme Q10 is mainly involved in the process of cellular energy metabolism and has antioxidant effects.

 

There are two main sources of CoQ10 in the human body:

(1) Self-synthesis: tyrosine through at least 17 steps of chemical process, with the participation of at least 7 vitamins (VB2, VB3, B6, B12, folic acid, VC and pantothenic acid) and some trace elements, is the main source of coenzyme Q10;

(2) Intake from food: However, the content of coenzyme Q10 in food is generally low, and when the body can synthesize it, exogenous intake will be reduced. In general, the human body is not prone to a deficiency of coenzyme Q10. However, with age, the body's ability to self-synthesize CoQ10 decreases, and in some pathological cases, the ability of human tissues to synthesize CoQ10 is affected.

 

Efficacy of coenzyme Q10

It is reported that at present, many domestic enterprises have obtained the approval of coenzyme Q10 preparation, such as Zhejiang Pharmaceutical, Xinhecheng, Baiyunshan, Sunflower Pharmaceutical, North China Pharmaceutical, China Resources Shuanghe, etc.

Tongrentang, Kangbei, Tomson By-Health, Jilin Aodong and many other enterprises have coenzyme Q10 health food on sale.

In other words, CoQ10 has a dual identity, which is both a prescription drug and a health supplement.

The domestic market of coenzyme Q10 drugs has 10mg capsules and 5mg injections, and is approved for the adjuvant treatment of viral myocarditis, chronic cardiac insufficiency, viral hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis and cancer.

The Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure 2018 and the Chinese Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Fulminant Myocarditis in Adults officially recommend coenzyme Q10 as an adjuvant drug treatment method to improve myocardial energy metabolism in patients, thereby improving cardiac function.

The adjuvant therapeutic effect of coenzyme Q10 on cardiac diseases is related to the fact that coenzyme Q10 can increase the energy supply of cardiomyocytes, but the therapeutic effect of coenzyme Q10 is limited.

When the total amount of CoQ10 in the human body decreases below 75%, the heart will function abnormally due to extreme lack of CoQ10, which is very rare.

Most heart diseases, such as coronary heart disease caused by blood circulation disorders, heart failure induced by long-term hypertension, atrial fibrillation caused by ectopic pacing, etc., have little to do with coenzyme Q10, so simply supplementing Coenzyme Q10 for heart diseases is often not ideal.

So, can coenzyme Q10 prevent myocarditis caused by the new crown? Zhang Qi, director of the Department of Cardiology at Shanghai Dongfang Hospital North Hospital, pointed out that there is currently no clear evidence that coenzyme Q10 can prevent myocarditis and promote physical recovery after infection.

In addition, as a health care product, coenzyme Q10 has 50mg, 100mg, 200mg and other specifications, and the dosage is generally 50-400mg. However, limited by the influence of intestinal absorption, the amount of coenzyme Q10 can enter the body is still very small, and when the body is not deficient in coenzyme Q10, excess metabolism will be excreted.

Moreover, coenzyme Q10 can not be taken in large doses (>50mg/day), which may cause stomach discomfort, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, palpitations, rash and other adverse reactions.

 

summary

Coenzyme Q10 only plays an auxiliary role in the treatment of heart diseases, and there is no evidence that it can prevent myocarditis after a positive new crown.

Moreover, the incidence of myocarditis after new crown infection is not high, and data show that the incidence of myositis in new crown patients is 2‰~4‰. Most myocarditis can heal on its own, the rate of severe disease is extremely low, and the early treatment effect is also very good.

After the release of the new crown, the public must remember to rationally stock medicine, and do not enter round after round of drug stockpiling boom.