Curcumin more effective than coenzyme Q10 in improving hyperlipidaemia – RCT

The ‘Effects of curcumin and/or coenzyme Q10 supplementation on metabolic control in subjects with metabolic syndrome: a randomized clinical trial’ ​is a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study that investigated the effects of curcumin and/or coenzyme Q10 supplementation on metabolic syndrome (MetS) components.

These include systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), total cholesterol (TC), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and weight.

A total of 88 participants were randomly assigned into four groups, specifically curcumin plus placebo (CP), coenzyme Q10 plus placebo (QP), curcumin plus coenzyme Q10 (CQ), and double placebo (DP).

The CP, QP and CQ groups were respectively given one capsule containing 200mg of curcumin powder and placebo, one capsule containing 60mg of coenzyme Q10 and placebo, one capsule containing 200mg of curcumin powder and one capsule containing 60mg of coenzyme Q10, every day for 12 weeks.

Participants in the DP group took two capsules containing cellulose acetate daily during the trial. The amount of placebo was equal across all groups.

Compared to the three other groups, only the CP group had a significant reduction in HDL-c, LDL-c and TC. A reduction of TG was found in the CP and CQ groups. While a trend for improvement in TG was seen in the QP group, it was not significant enough to be conclusive.

No marked differences were seen among the four groups for SBP, DBP, FPG, WC, BMI and weight.

“Although the CQ group showed some effects on dyslipidaemia, the CP group had greater effects. And despite similarity in some lipid-lowering mechanisms of curcumin and coenzyme Q10, it seems that the latter neutralised the effects of curcumin on dyslipidaemia,”​ said the authors.

Contrasting results​

Contrary to previous evidence stating that curcumin can improve hypertension through mechanisms such as reducing oxidative stress, and improving endothelial dysfunction and aortic stiffening, curcumin and/or coenzyme Q10 supplementation did not have an impact on hypertension in this study.

The authors also evaluated their findings against other studies and found contrasting results for the other MetS components.

For example, it was previously reported that curcumin can improve glycaemic control by increasing insulin secretion from pancreatic cells and regulating postprandial insulin responses. But in this study, FPG did not significantly improve after curcumin and/or coenzyme Q10 supplementation.   

“Based on past research, it seems that intervention with coenzyme Q10 for a longer duration has a beneficial effect on ​dyslipidaemia, but not on diabetes or MetS. It also appears that higher doses of curcumin and coenzyme Q10 have a greater effect on insulin and insulin resistance than FPG,” the authors added. ​

It should be noted that the study was limited by certain factors — the participants’ dietary intake was not examined, their insulin levels and insulin resistance were not measured, and they were enrolled sequentially, which could have caused selection bias.

MetS is a group of metabolic disorders that raises the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It has a global prevalence of 14 to 32% and is increasingly becoming a major public health concern.

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Source: Nutrition Journal ​

https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs12937-022-00816-7​

“Effects of curcumin and/or coenzyme Q10 supplementation on metabolic control in subjects with metabolic syndrome: a randomized clinical trial”​

Authors: Abbas Ali Sangouni, et al​

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