Effectiveness of Coenzyme Q10 on echocardiographic parameters of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

BACKGROUND: Myocardial damage is a common complication in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) that occurs due to myocardial replacement by fat and fibrosis. In recent years, efforts have been made toward finding new pharmacological agents with fewer complications which can be used as prophylactic before the symptoms. Coenzyme Q10 plays a central role in production of bioenergy in heart muscle and antioxidant in reperfusion condition of myocardial damaged muscle and leads to membrane stability and prevents cell death. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at comparing the Effectiveness of coenzyme Q10 on echocardiographic parameters of pediatric patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial study (RCT) was carried out on 25 pediatric patients with pre-diagnosed DMD who attended the Children’s Medical Center (CMC), Tehran, Iran from February 2013 to 2015. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group-1; (n=12) was treated with coenzyme Q10 for six months and group-2 ;(n=13) received placebo for the same time. The primary aim was to compare the myocardial performance index (MPI), between the two groups at the end of six months. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (ver-16) and using T-Test. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients under study were divided into two groups of (Q10=12) and (placebo=13). Mean ages were 8.9±1.7 and 8.6±1.4 in Q10 and placebo groups (P=0.66). No significant difference was detected in MPI at all three views of mitral and tricuspid and septum respectively in two groups after the end of treatment (0.41±0.13, and 0.43±0.6; P=0.59), (0.45±0.12, and 0.46±0.1; P=0.05), and (0.45±0.06, and 0.45±0.1; P=0.31). CONCLUSION: According to the results obtained from this study, coenzyme Q10 had no significant effect on improving the performance of echocardiographic parameters in patients with DMD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered at the Iranian Clinical Trial Registry (IRCT.ir) with the IRCT identification number IRCT2015070223018N1. FUNDING: This research has been financially supported by the Research Council of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.