PQQ for Mitochondrial Biogenesis
PQQ has genuine preclinical evidence for mitochondrial biogenesis, with limited confirmation in humans.
Overview
Verdict
How It Works
Dosing & Protocol
Typical dose
- Recommended dose
- Studied at 20 mg/day in humans; mitochondrial biogenesis has been demonstrated in cells and rodents, not confirmed in people
- Expected timeframe
- Not established
Protocol
- form
- PQQ disodium salt
- duration
- Rodent studies ran weeks; human trials 8-12 weeks with no biogenesis measurement
- co factor
- Evidence is mixed. The preclinical case is reasonably strong: PQQ increases expression of PGC-1alpha, the master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, along with NRF-1, NRF-2 and TFAM in cell culture and rodent models, and increases mitochondrial content in mouse tissue; PQQ-deprived mice show reduced mitochondrial number. In humans, the one relevant study is Harris and colleagues in ten subjects, which reported changes in urinary metabolites consistent with altered mitochondrial metabolism at 0.2 mg/kg - an uncontrolled study in ten people, not a demonstration of biogenesis. No human trial has measured mitochondrial DNA copy number, citrate synthase activity or muscle mitochondrial content after PQQ.
- titration
- Not applicable - the human dose needed to affect mitochondrial biogenesis, if any, is unknown
- starting dose
- Not established for this outcome. Human trials used 20 mg/day PQQ disodium salt
Evidence
What the studies say
No studies are yet linked to both PQQ and Mitochondrial Biogenesis.
Safety
Caveats
The intervention that reliably stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis in humans is endurance exercise - it increases PGC-1alpha, mitochondrial density and oxidative enzyme activity measurably in muscle biopsy studies, within weeks, at no cost. High-intensity interval training does the same efficiently. Extrapolating rodent findings from PQQ-deficient diets to supplementation in well-nourished humans is not sound reasoning. Safety of PQQ: human trials are short and small, so long-term safety remains unknown. Headache, fatigue and sleep disturbance are reported at 20-40 mg/day. No upper intake level exists for humans, and a rodent study found kidney effects at very high doses - do not exceed the 20 mg/day used in human studies. Avoid in pregnancy and breastfeeding, since no safety data exist. Drug interactions are undocumented rather than ruled out; discuss with your doctor if you take regular medication. Note also that antioxidant supplementation around training has in some trials blunted the mitochondrial adaptations to exercise, so a redox-active compound taken alongside a training programme is not necessarily additive.
Less likely to help if
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