Research abstract:
Fibromyalgia (FM), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are disorders with similar symptom constellations including pain, fatigue, cognitive problems and sleep disturbance, among others.
These multi-system illnesses have many known abnormalities, few reliable treatment options and unknown causes. Oxidative stress has been linked to disorder severity, suggesting anti-oxidants may be of benefit. Coenzyme Q10 (Q10) has been shown to improve symptoms and biomarkers of FM, and ME/CFS if taken in combination with another coenzyme. However, Q10 is poorly absorbed by mitochondria.
MitoQ is a mitochondria targeted Q10 analog with superior absorption and accumulation by mitochondria in vivo. The current study tested the effect of 6-weeks of daily oral MitoQ (20mg) on FM and ME/CFS with two randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled crossover studies. A third open label cohort contributed data but did not receive placebo.
Results suggest MitoQ may reduce pain and increase working memory in FM. Further investigation in a more controlled environment is warranted.
The influence of Mitoq on symptoms and cognition in fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue, by Cort Johnson & Joshua Grant
[This article has NOT been officially peer reviewed and is the opinion of the authors. Comments can be made publicly or privately on either Mendus.org or HealthRising.org]
Mendus is a platform to encourage people with health conditions share experiences, interact with research scientists, generate research questions and initiate research studies.
Founder Joshua Grant says:
We had a great turnout for the MitoQ study. Though not everyone finished, 144 people contributed data. Newcomers can still complete the study but I wanted to inform you that an official report is freely accessible here.
There were encouraging and disappointing results. MitoQ seems to work quite well for fibromyalgia, lowering pain and improving memory. For ME/CFS the higher dosage (those who also had placebo) showed no effects that could not be explained by placebo. However, our open label cohort (Group3) showed huge effects with the lower dose. You can read much more about our interpretation in the discussion section of the paper.
Did MitoQ mend us? by Cort Johnson, 8 Aug 2016
