Idebenone antioxidant health benefit and research studies

Idebenone is a synthetic analogue of coenzyme Q10 used in Europe in the treatment of vascular and degenerative diseases of the central nervous system. Idebenone is a strong antioxidant and gaining popularity.

Alzheimer's disease treatment
Studies with Idebenone in regards to therapy of Alzheimer's disease have been inconsistent, but there may be a trend for a slight benefit.

Idebenone treatment fails to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.
Neurology. 2003. Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, USA.
To determine the effect of idebenone on the rate of decline in Alzheimer's disease. A 1-year, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted. Subjects were over age 50 with a diagnosis of probable AD and had Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores between 12 and 25. Subjects were treated with idebenone 120, 240, or 360 mg tid, each of which was compared with placebo. Idebenone failed to slow cognitive decline in AD that was of sufficient magnitude to be clinically significant.

Friedreich's ataxia treatment
Idebenone may be helpful in Friedreich's ataxia.

Neurological effects of high-dose idebenone in patients with Friedreich's ataxia: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.
Lancet Neurol. 2007.
Friedreich's ataxia is a progressive, multisystem, degenerative disorder caused by a reduction in frataxin. Loss of frataxin results in mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage in patients and model systems. Previous studies have indicated that the antioxidant idebenone (5 mg/kg daily) reduces cardiac hypertrophy, but definite improvement in neurological function has not been shown. 48 genetically confirmed Friedreich's ataxia patients, aged 9-17 years, were enrolled in a 6-month, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The patients received placebo or one of three doses of idebenone (approximately 5 mg/kg, 15 mg/kg, and 45 mg/kg), stratified by body weight. Treatment with higher doses of idebenone was generally well tolerated and associated with improvement in neurological function and ADL in patients with Friedreich's ataxia. The degree of improvement correlated with the dose of idebenone, suggesting that higher doses may be necessary to have a beneficial effect on neurological function.

Idebenone treatment in Friedreich patients: one-year-long randomized placebo-controlled trial.
Neurology. 2003.
The authors carried out a 1-year, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of idebenone in 29 patients with Friedreich ataxia. They found significant reductions of interventricular septal thickness and left ventricular mass in the idebenone group vs the placebo group, with no improvement in other heart ultrasound measures or neurologic condition. The absolute cardiac changes were modest, but the findings suggest that larger trials should assess whether idebenone reduces ventricular hypertrophy in patients with Friedreich ataxia.

Huntington's disease
Idebenone has not been found to be helpful in Huntington's disease.

Idebenone side effects, safety
The most common side effects associated with idebenone are insomnia, stomach pain, nausea, and anxiety.