Overview
Verdict
How It Works
Dosing & Protocol
Typical dose
- Recommended dose
- Studied at 20 mg/day; neuroprotective effects are limited to cell and animal models
- Expected timeframe
- Not established
Protocol
- form
- PQQ disodium salt
- duration
- Human trials ran 8-12 weeks and did not assess neuroprotection
- co factor
- Evidence is insufficient. The neuroprotection literature for PQQ is preclinical: cell and rodent studies show it protects neurons against glutamate excitotoxicity, oxidative injury and ischaemia-reperfusion damage, stimulates nerve growth factor synthesis in fibroblasts, and interferes with alpha-synuclein and amyloid-beta fibril formation in vitro. These are genuinely interesting findings, but no human trial has examined neurodegenerative disease progression, neuronal injury markers or any clinical neuroprotective endpoint with PQQ. The available human studies measured cognitive test scores and sleep in healthy or middle-aged adults over 8-12 weeks, which cannot demonstrate neuroprotection.
- titration
- Not applicable - no neuroprotective dose has been established in humans
- starting dose
- Not established. Human trials used 20 mg/day PQQ disodium salt
Evidence
What the studies say
No studies are yet linked to both PQQ and Neuroprotection.
Safety
Caveats
Neuroprotection claims based on cell culture and rodent models are among the least reliable in the supplement field - the history of neurology is full of compounds that protected neurons in a dish and failed in people. For Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, multiple sclerosis or motor neurone disease, specialist care and evidence-based treatment are essential, and no supplement substitutes. For reducing risk of cognitive decline, the modifiable factors identified by the Lancet Commission - hearing loss, hypertension, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excess alcohol, head injury, air pollution, low education and social isolation - carry the evidence. New neurological symptoms, tremor, progressive weakness or cognitive change need medical assessment. Safety of PQQ: human data are short-term and sparse, so long-term safety is unknown. Reported side effects at 20-40 mg/day include headache, fatigue and sleep disturbance. No human upper intake level has been set, and rodent studies show kidney effects at very high doses, so do not exceed the 20 mg/day studied. Avoid in pregnancy and breastfeeding, as no safety data exist. Drug interactions are undocumented rather than excluded, which matters for anyone on neurological medication.
Less likely to help if
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