2026 年 72 巻 2 号 p. 120-130
α-Lipoic acid (LA) and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) are frequently taken alone or in combination as dietary supplements with expectations of energy-stimulating effects and antioxidant actions. However, although the amino derivative of LA, α-lipoamide (LA-NH2), has more powerful biological activities than LA, its clinical use is limited. In the body, most of LA and CoQ10 are in their unstable reduced form, but the reduction mechanisms and interactions between these compounds in the body are not well-understood. Therefore, we investigated their cell-mediated-reductions and interactions between exogenous CoQ10 and LA or LA-NH2. The reduction of exogenously added CoQ10 was promoted by the co-addition of LA or LA-NH2 only in the presence of Hep G2 cells, and this promotion was stronger with LA-NH2 than LA. As a mechanism, we found that exogenous LA and LA-NH2 were first reduced to their corresponding reduced forms mainly by thioredoxin reductase 1 and lipoamide dehydrogenase, respectively, in cells, and then the reduced forms were rapidly excreted from the cells, where they reduced extracellular CoQ10 to ubiquinol-10 (CoQ10H2) non-enzymatically. Moreover, it was suggested that exogenous CoQ10 reduction by reduced LA-NH2 may also occur not only outside but also inside the cells. These results suggest that the combination of LA or LA-NH2 and CoQ10 can effectively increase the extracellular CoQ10H2 level in the body. Therefore, it is expected that their combined use will further potentiate the preventive and/or protective effects against various diseases caused by oxidative stress compared with single use, and contribute more effectively to health promotion and anti-aging.
