UBIQUINONE-10 PLASMA-CONCENTRATIONS IN HEALTHY EUROPEAN CHILDREN

The reduced form of ubiquinone-10 (coenzyme Q) has been shown to represent an important physiologic antioxidant principle in human blood, In order to establish a reference range for infants, we measured plasma levels of ubiquinone in 50 healthy European children aged 2 months to 15 years, A mean (+/-SD) value of 0.75+/-0.27 mu g/ml plasma (0.87+/-0.31 mu M) was determined; ubiquinone concentrations were not found to be sex-dependent (0.75+/-0.24 mu g/ml for girls, n=17, and 0.75+/-0.28 mu g/ml for boys, n=33) but correlated negatively with age (r=-0.37, P=0.0075). This negative correlation was mainly due to relatively high levels in infants approximately 1 year old. The mean value determined does not significantly differ from the average ubiquinone plasma concentrations determined in healthy Nigerian children (0.85+/-0.40 mu g/ml, n=18) in a previous study (Becker K, Boetticher D, Leichsenring M, Internat J Vitam Nutr Res 1995, in press).