Peggy Droz

Whether you believe Co-Q10 is snake oil or panacea, it's clearly a supplement on the rise. Look up research on Co-Q10, and get ready for an onslaught of claims from weight loss to gum disease reversal. Just recently scientists have also discovered that this natural supplement may even slow down the skin's aging process. With the Woodstock generation wizening, get your facts straight and get ready to sell Co-Q10 topicals.

Coenzyme Q10 (also known as ubiquinone and ubiquinole) was first discovered in the United States in 1957 and was later the subject of cellular energy research by Peter Mitchell, Ph.D., of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who received a Nobel prize for his work. Co-Q10 is similar in structure to vitamin K and has qualities similar to those of other fat-soluble antioxidants. Manufactured inside human cells of major organs that feature high rates of metabolism such as the heart, liver and kidneys, it's also located in the cells of plants and animals that are found in common diets. Found in rice bran, wheat germ, beans, nuts and eggs, the largest amounts of this enzyme in any food substance are in fish such as mackerel, salmon and sardines.

Scientists now believe that Co-Q10 is essential for generating 95 percent of the total energy required by the human body. A 1990 article in the American Journal of Cardiology declared: "Coenzyme Q10 is necessary for the mitochondria [a component of cells] to perform their functions and is essential for human life." Starting at about age 30, levels of Co-Q10 drop, perhaps because of aging. This causes the degeneration of cells, which may contribute to age-related diseases and conditions such as high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease and the breakdown of skin tissue.

After years of being used as a nutritional supplement, Co-Q10 recently made its debut on the skin care market. This use of Co-Q10 is backed by research presented in Boston at the First Conference of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association in May 1998 by Paul Gerson Unna of the skin research center at Beiersdorf AG in Hamburg, Germany. Gerson showed evidence that Co-Q10 has the potential to be a remarkable ingredient with multiple applications.

Gerson Unna confirmed that, like vitamin E, Co-Q10 slows down tissue damage by decreasing the effect of free radical molecules. In a placebo-controlled study, researchers at Beiersdorf discovered that after six weeks of daily treatment on crow's feet (eye wrinkles), wrinkle depth was reduced by 27 percent; after 10 weeks, fine lines and wrinkles were reduced by a surprising 43 percent. The enzyme also has been effective in the reduction and fading of age spots and is touted by Beiersdorf for its lack of toxicity.

Currently, Beiersdorf holds the formula patent for the enzyme's topical use. European brands, like Nivea (the first company to sell skin care products with Co-Q10) and Juvena, offer body creams, eye creams and face cleansers. Another European brand, Eucerin, has developed a line of products containing Co-Q10 that is especially effective for mature skin, sun-damaged and prematurely aged skin.

Although Beiersdorf might hold the formula patent for Co-Q10, "We hold the broadest U.S. patent for the use of Co-Q10 in pastes, creams, gels, oils and lotions," says Joe Baba, chief executive officer of Q-pharma Inc., in Edmonds, Wash. Q-pharma develops, manufactures and markets oral and personal care products based on exclusive technologies using the antioxidant Co-Q10 as their primary ingredient.

After receiving the patent in May 1997, Q-pharma developed a toothpaste with Co-Q10 and will be introducing a facial cream (as yet unnamed) during the first quarter of the year 2000 containing the enzyme in skin care products, says Baba. "It's an extremely effective component." With recent skin care experiments with Co-Q10, "retailers can sell their products to customers by simply telling them the facts."

Raj Chopra, founder—and president since 1976—of Tishcon in Westbury, N.Y., is eager to ride the Co-Q10 wave, too. Tishcon, which also owns another manufacturing facility in Salisbury, Md., develops formulas for dietary supplements in the form of tablets, capsules and soft-gelatin capsules for its own products as well as other manufacturers' products. Though not currently licensed to produce topical products with Co-Q10, Chopra says he anticipates that Tishcon will be licensed in the near future.

"We've been working on developing bio-availability and developed something with Co-Q10 about a year and a half ago," he says. That "something" is a facial cream that Chopra hopes to get on the market shortly. "Our cream will be like a cocktail—it'll have other ingredients, like alpha lipoic acid, vitamin E, vitamin C and vitamin K, along with the Co-Q10." Chopra said that Tishcon's cream would contain "very fine particle size—which leads to much better penetration into the skin." He is also currently in the process of negotiating to get Tishcon licensed in the nonretail end of the skin care products market, i.e., mail-order, Internet, and infomercials.

Although Country Life vitamins is not currently in the facial cream market, Jodi Drexler Billet, part owner and marketing director of the Hauppauge, N.Y., company, agrees that Co-Q10 is indeed a sensation. Recounting the laundry list of proven claims about the effectiveness of Co-Q10, Billet notes that Co-Q10 is the most effective antioxidant and "protects against LDL, too—the 'bad' cholesterol." Country Life makes a soft-gel vitamin with Co-Q10 called "maxi-sorb." "It's made with special patented technology that allows absorption of up to 300 percent more than other vitamins containing Co-Q10," Billet says.

There's no doubt that Co-Q10 is fast becoming the wonder drug of the early years of the new millennium, topically and nutritionally. But what about recent claims that Co-Q10 can help with weight loss? A study conducted by the University of Texas in Austin, in combination with the University of Antwerp, Belgium, revealed that obese people can have as much as a 50-percent deficiency of Co-Q10 in their body. Adding Co-Q10 supplements to their diets resulted in notable weight loss.

So does this mean that retailers can tell their customers that facial creams containing Co-Q10 will get rid of chubby cheeks? Who knows? At the rate this natural product is escalating in its various claims, it wouldn't be too surprising if they could.

Peggy Droz is a freelance writer living in Greensboro, N.C.