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Coenzyme Q10 otherwise known as ubiquinone, has appeared before on this blog for various reasons (see here and see here). Described as a fat soluble vitamin-like substance, there are apparently a few important steps in the production of CoQ10 implicating one to two old friends - aromatic amino acid friends - involving the "synthesis of the benzoquinone structure" from said aromatic friends (tyrosine or phenylalanine) alongside the "synthesis of the isoprene side chain from acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) via the mevalonate pathway". It's then a case of marrying the two reaction products together to form something which as the name 'co-enzyme' suggests, is pretty important to quite a few enzymatic reactions.
In terms of the functions of CoQ10, well quite a few of them overlap with areas of interest when it comes to autism. The word 'mitochondria' springs up quite a bit and the important role CoQ10 plays in the production of energy or involvement with ATP (adenosine triphosphate) at least. The antioxidant activity that CoQ10 also seems to possess, at least in it's reduced form - ubiquinol - is also something pretty important. Both mitochondrial function and the concept of oxidative stress have surfaced in the autism research literature in recent years (see here and see here).
The Crane paper presents quite a bit of biochemistry pertinent to "a hypothesis that autism is controlled by a coenzyme Q-dependent redox system in the porin channels". Putting aside my reluctance towards grand, over-arching theories about autism (sorry, the autisms) I'll be honest and tell you that I found the reading pretty heavy going on this topic bearing in mind my very limited knowledge on porin channels and all-things when it comes to transportation in and out of cells. I'm not then going to provide some detailed critique of the author's hypothesis aside from mentioning the paper by Freedenfeld and colleagues [2] on the use "of ribose therapy and NADH therapy on children with autism" (NADH being oxidised by coenzyme Q). NADH is something that Crane et al have talked about in other papers too [3].
The wider autism literature on CoQ10 and autism is best described as limited at the moment. I came across the paper by Gvozdjáková and colleagues [4] (open-access here) talking about results from a preliminary open trial of ubiquinol in a small number of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Following an initial daily dose starting at 50mg of "Liquid liposomal ubiquinol" increased to 100mg daily, authors reported on both behaviour and various biochemical measures including CoQ10 (total) and TBARS "the end product of lipid peroxidation in the body". Bearing in mind the study methodology, the authors reported that a: "Beneficial effect of ubiquinol in children with autism has been demonstrated for the first time". That being said, I note that only the 'CoQ10-TOTAL' biochemical measure came out as significantly affected by ubiquinol supplementation (which is kinda what one would expect) and as someone has already [slightly harshly] noted using PubMed Commons "There is no way in which these observations can be interpreted as a "demonstration" of a "beneficial effect".
I do however believe that there may be more to do from a research point of view when it comes to coenzyme Q10 and autism. Thinking back to the Jim Adams double-blind, placebo-controlled trial looking at a vitamin and mineral supplement for autism (see here) I note that their preparation included CoQ10 (see here) among lots of other things. Granted, lots of other nutrients might have been contributory to the effects they noted, but one cannot, at the moment, rule out any specific effect from CoQ10 either. This is something also mentioned in the new-ish paper from Frye & Rossignol [5]. I'm also minded to mention the various discussions about the use of CoQ10 in relation to cases of chronic fatigue syndrome / myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) too (see here) as per papers like the one from Maes and colleagues [6]. Following my mantra about autism seemingly not being protective against any other condition or state, one might further consider additional research as to whether overlap or similar processes might unite at least some autism and at least some CFS/ME or not?
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[1] Crane FL. et al. Plasma membrane coenzyme Q: evidence for a role in autism. Biologics. 2014 May 29;8:199-205.
[2] Freedenfeld SH. et al. Biochemical Effects of Ribose and NADH Therapy in Children with Autism. Autism Insights. 2011; 3: 3-13.
[3] Löw H. et al. Putting together a plasma membrane NADH oxidase: a tale of three laboratories. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2012 Nov;44(11):1834-8.
[4] Gvozdjáková A. et al. Ubiquinol improves symptoms in children with autism. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2014;2014:798957.
[5] Frye RE. & Rossignol D. Treatments for Biomedical Abnormalities Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front. Pediatr. 2014. doi: 10.3389/fped.2014.00066
[6] Maes M. et al. Coenzyme Q10 deficiency in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is related to fatigue, autonomic and neurocognitive symptoms and is another risk factor explaining the early mortality in ME/CFS due to cardiovascular disorder. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2009;30(4):470-6.
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Crane FL, Löw H, Sun I, Navas P, & Gvozdjáková A (2014). Plasma membrane coenzyme Q: evidence for a role in autism. Biologics : targets & therapy, 8, 199-205 PMID: 24920882
please my child is 10years old in autism case how many mg of co q10 should i give him
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