Who Found Coenzyme Q10, and How Beef Heart Mitochondria Led to a Supplement
The coenzyme Q10 story starts in 1957 with a two-page note on beef heart mitochondria. The supplement came later. The evidence is mixed: a 2014 heart failure trial reported fewer deaths, while two statin symptom reviews reached opposite conclusions.
The history of coenzyme Q10 starts in beef heart, not in a capsule. In 1957, F.L. Crane, Y. Hatefi, R.L. Lester and C. Widmer published a two-page note titled "Isolation of a quinone from beef heart mitochondria" ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13445756/)). The supplement came much later, and the evidence behind it is more mixed than most labels suggest. ## A two-page note and a follow-up The 1957 note appears in volume 25 of Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, pages 220 and 221 ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3002(57)90457-2)). Two years later, the group published a follow-up in a series called "Studies on the electron transport system," reporting that it had isolated "coenzyme Q (Q275)" from beef heart and its mitochondria. That paper ran seven pages, 73 to 79 of volume 32 ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13628717/)). The series name points to the compound's job: it belonged to the electron transport chain inside mitochondria. A 2014 heart failure trial record lists both coenzyme Q10 and ubiquinone as keywords, so the two names appear side by side in the research literature ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25282031/)). ## Where the Nobel fits Peter Mitchell won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contribution to the understanding of biological energy transfer through the formulation of the chemiosmotic theory" ([Nobel Prize](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1978/summary/)). The citation names the theory, not the quinone. Mitchell's award came 21 years after the 1957 note. That theory describes how the electron chain turns electron flow into a usable energy gradient, which is why the 1959 series title matters beyond its own paper. For the wider mitochondrial picture, see the [mitochondrial health guide](/health/mitochondrial-health-complete-guide). ## Ubiquinol and the absorption question Ubiquinol is the reduced form of the same compound. A 2006 study run by Kaneka, which makes ubiquinol, gave healthy volunteers single doses of 150 or 300 mg and daily doses of 90, 150 or 300 mg for four weeks. The study was single-blind and placebo-controlled. The authors reported significant absorption from the gut and no safety concerns on standard lab tests at doses up to 300 mg, for up to two weeks after treatment ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16919858/); [DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2006.07.001)). Blood levels rose with dose. Trough levels at day 14 were 2.61, 3.66 and 6.53 micrograms per milliliter for the 90, 150 and 300 mg doses. The abstract does not compare ubiquinol with ubiquinone, so it does not show which form works better. Mt. Angel Vitamins sells a capsule that lists "CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10)" at 100 mg per one-capsule serving, not ubiquinol, alongside 5 mg of alpha lipoic acid and 100 mg of soy lecithin. The live listing shows a 60-capsule count, which comes to about 43 cents a day (price checked October 22, 2026). The product is [CoQ10 100 mg Plus Alpha Lipoic Acid](https://mtangelvitamins.com/products/coq10-alpha-lipoic-acid?utm_source=learn_hub&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=blog_post&utm_content=history-of-coq10-from-beef-heart-to-ubiquinone). Whether the form matters is still an open question. The [coenzyme Q10 ingredient page](/ingredients/coq10-coenzyme-q10) covers the compound itself. The next question is what the trials measured. ## What the heart failure trial measured The Q-SYMBIO trial enrolled 420 people with moderate to severe chronic heart failure. For two years, they took 100 mg of CoQ10 three times a day or a placebo, alongside standard care ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25282031/); [DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchf.2014.06.008)). The short-term endpoints, measured at 16 weeks, were NYHA class, the six-minute walk and NT-proBNP levels, and none changed significantly. The primary long-term endpoint, a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events, was reached by 15 percent of the CoQ10 group and 26 percent of the placebo group (hazard ratio 0.50, 95 percent confidence interval 0.32 to 0.80). Cardiovascular deaths were 9 percent in the CoQ10 group and 16 percent in the placebo group, and all-cause deaths were 10 percent and 18 percent. NYHA class improved in the CoQ10 group by two years (p = 0.028). The grant list names Kaneka Corp. and the International Coenzyme Q10 Association, so read it as one trial with interested funders. ## Why statin users hear about CoQ10 Statins lower circulating CoQ10. A 2018 meta-analysis of 12 randomized trials with 1,776 participants found that statin treatment reduced CoQ10 compared with placebo, and the drop did not depend on how long people took the statin ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30414615/)). A second 2018 meta-analysis of 12 trials with 575 patients concluded that CoQ10 eased statin-associated muscle symptoms, including pain and weakness, although creatine kinase levels did not fall ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30371340/)). A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis of seven trials with 321 patients found no benefit for statin-associated muscle pain or for staying on statin therapy, and only two of the trials had shown a positive effect on pain ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32179207/)). The two symptom reviews reached opposite conclusions. Labels cannot settle that. Another supplement that started in a food, cod liver oil, has its own history in the [omega-3 post](/blog/history/history-of-omega-3-from-cod-liver-oil-to-epa-and-dha). ## Next reads - [Mitochondrial health guide](/health/mitochondrial-health-complete-guide): the wider reference page on the mitochondria this compound works in. - [From cod liver oil to EPA and DHA](/blog/history/history-of-omega-3-from-cod-liver-oil-to-epa-and-dha): the omega-3 origin story, for readers who want another supplement with a food origin. ### Related reading - [alpha-lipoic acid from liver to mitochondria](/blog/history/history-of-alpha-lipoic-acid-from-liver-to-mitochondria) - [vitamin E from fertility factor to tocopherol](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-e-from-fertility-factor-to-tocopherol)