Rosuvastatin combined with regular exercise preserves coenzyme Q10 levels associated with a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND

Coenzyme Q10 levels are low in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), and increasing or preserving coenzyme Q10 could be a beneficial strategy. Exercise and statins improve high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. However, statins inhibit coenzyme Q10 biosynthesis, and the combination of statins with coenzyme Q10 supplementation increases HDL-C compared to statins alone. We compared the effects of two statins (rosuvastatin and atorvastatin) combined with exercise on coenzyme Q10 and HDL-C levels in CAD patients.

METHODS

After randomizing 28 CAD patients to rosuvastatin (n=14) and atorvastatin (n=14) groups, patients performed weekly in-hospital aerobic exercise and daily home exercise for 20 weeks. We measured serum lipids, ubiquinol, and exercise capacity.

RESULTS

Both statins equally improved exercise capacity and lowered low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Rosuvastatin significantly increased HDL-C (rosuvastatin, +12 ± 9 mg/dL [+30%], atorvastatin, +5 ± 5 mg/dL [+13%], p=0.014) and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) (rosuvastatin, +28.3 ± 20.7 mg/dL, atorvastatin, +13.4 ± 12.0 mg/dL, p=0.030) compared to atorvastatin. Atorvastatin significantly decreased serum ubiquinol (731 ± 238 to 547 ± 219 nmol/L, p=0.001), but rosuvastatin (680±233 to 668 ± 299 nmol/L, p=0.834) did not. There was a significant positive correlation between changes in ubiquinol and ApoA1 (r=0.518, p=0.005). Multivariate regression analysis showed that changes in ubiquinol correlated significantly with changes in ApoA1 after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and smoking (β=0.502, p=0.008).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to atorvastatin, rosuvastatin combined with exercise significantly preserved ubiquinol levels associated with an increase in HDL-C. Rosuvastatin with regular exercise could be beneficial for CAD patients.