Effects of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt Intake on the Serum Cholesterol Levels of Healthy Japanese Adults

Abstract

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a water-soluble quinone compound, and has a strong anti-oxidant capacity (1,2). Trace amounts of PQQ are present in everyday foods and beverages (3) and in the organs and tissues of humans and rats (4). The nutritional importance of PQQ was suggested after a study on rats showed poor growth, osteolathyrism, and friable skin due to a lack of PQQ (5). In addition, several studies in humans have suggested that PQQ plays a role in cognitive improvement (6, 7) and has anti-stress effects (8). A recent study reported that dietary PQQ alters indicators of inflammation and mitochondrial-related metabolism in human subjects (9).Owing to its strong anti-oxidative properties, PQQ is likely to protect mitochondria against damage from reactive oxygen species. Aerobic respiration in the mitochondria leads to the production of reactive oxygen species, which in turn, leads to the induction of lipid peroxidation and the inactivation of lipid metabolism (10, 11) through a deterioration of the mitochondrial energy production cycle. Therefore, the protection of mitochondria from oxidative stress may maintain normal metabolism in mitochondria. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) that accelerates catabolism, i.e. the production of ATP, through the generation of mitochondria, activation of the glycolytic pathway, or glucose capture, is activated following PQQ ingestion in animal studies (12,13). A previous study in rats fed a PQQ-depleted diet reported that PQQ treatment led to an increase in the number of mitochondria in cells and a normalization of elevated triglyceride (TG) levels in circulating blood (13). It is well known that to maintain serum lipid levels at normal range is important, as excessive lipid levels are regarded as a risk factor for various lifestyle-related diseases. Although similar effects are to be expected in humans, to date, to the best of our knowledge, there is only one study on the relationship between PQQ and lipid metabolism in healthy young humans with the normal range of blood lipid levels (9). In the paper, the blood lipid levels remained within the normal range after taking PQQ. The primary purpose of our study was to examine the effects of continuous PQQ treatment for 12 wk on human lipid levels in a randomized, doubleblinded, placebo-controlled trial. The volunteers in this study were healthy Japanese adults with normal to moderately high TG levels including those who had normal to high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-chol) levels. Summary Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a water-soluble quinone compound that has a strong anti-oxidant capacity. A previous study in rats fed a PQQ-depleted diet showed that elevated levels of serum triglyceride (TG) decreased after PQQ supplementation. However, there is only one study reporting the effects of PQQ on serum lipid levels, such as those of TG and cholesterol, in humans. In this study, the effects of PQQ disodium salt (BioPQQ TM ) on serum TG and cholesterol levels in humans after 6 and 12 wk of treatment at an ora...

Mechanistic Role of Reactive Oxygen Species and Therapeutic Potential of Antioxidants in Denervation- or Fasting-Induced Skeletal Muscle Atrophy

“…In contrast to NAC, PQQ has been known as a water-soluble, naturally occurring antioxidant (Raghuvanshi et al, 2016 ) since it was first discovered as the third redox cofactor in bacteria after nicotinamide and flavin in 1964 (Ge et al, 2015 ). PQQ mediates redox reactions in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and plays a critical role in scavenging ROS and attenuating oxidative stress (Nakano et al, 2015 ). Pretreatment of rats with PQQ obviously reduces the generation of ROS after intracerebral hemorrhage probably based on its antioxidant properties (Lu et al, 2015 ).…”

Pyrroloquinoline quinone attenuates cachexia-induced muscle atrophy via suppression of reactive oxygen species

“…PQQ is a water-soluble naturally occurring antioxidant component that has a strong anti-oxidant capacity. It not only serves as a mediator participating in redox reactions in the mitochondrial respiratory chain but also serves as a critical scavenger participating in scavenging ROS (38).…”

Early PQQ supplementation has persistent long‐term protective effects on developmental programming of hepatic lipotoxicity and inflammation in obese mice

“…Our novel observation of a reduction in ceramides in the postnatal livers of mice and normalization of PPARγ by PQQ in adults suggests that prolonged treatment with PQQ protects against hepatic lipotoxicity, as suggested in other studies (18). In vivo tests in preclinical models of diabetes and NASH and in vitro tests have reported no genotoxic potential of PQQ (67) and recent short‐term human studies have shown PQQ‐related improvements in cognitive function (68), dry skin (69), and lipid metabolism (70). Preclinical and human studies have also demonstrated that supplemental PQQ improves oxidative stress (23, 71), suggesting that dietary supplementation with PQQ is an emerging therapeutic target worthy of further study in the battle to reduce the risks of NAFLD in infants exposed to maternal overnutrition.…”