ReviewJournal of bioenergetics and biomembranes2015
Idebenone and neuroprotection: antioxidant, pro-oxidant, or electron carrier?
Review in Journal of bioenergetics and biomembranes, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 126 citations in OpenAlex.
- Translational Pharmaceutical Perspectives on Quinones as Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Agents in Diabetes and Its Complications.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Idebenone reduces oxidative stress and differentially improves chromatin integrity in dog and cat epididymal spermatozoa after slow freezing and vitrification.Veterinary research communications · 2026Article
- Metformin promotes mitochondrial integrity through AMPK-signaling in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.FEBS open bio · 2026Article
- Combining network pharmacology and experimental validation to demonstrate that salidroside alleviates acute lung injury by inhibiting ferroptosis via the MAPK/GPX4 pathway.Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Protective Effect of Idebenone Against UVB-Induced Photoaging in HaCaT Cells.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Article
- Article
- Idebenone Enhances the Early Microglial Response to Traumatic Brain Injury and Mitigates Acute Gene Expression Changes to Ephrin-A and Dopamine Signaling Pathways.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Natural Source of Drugs Targeting Central Nervous System Tumors-Focus on NAD(P)H Oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) Activity.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Targeting Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cerebral Ischemia: Advances in Pharmacological Interventions.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Unraveling the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic kidney disease: insights and interventions.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Idebenone: Clinical Potential Beyond Neurological Diseases.Drug design, development and therapy · 2025Review
- Effects of idebenone on cognitive function and serum biomarkers in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.European journal of medical research · 2024Article
- Advances on the Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies in Non-coding CGG Repeat Expansion Diseases.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Review
- Idebenone Antagonizes P53-Mediated Neuronal Oxidative Stress Injury by Regulating CD38-SIRT3 Protein Level.Neurochemical research · 2024Article
- Global research trends in precision-targeted therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus (2003-2023): A bibliographic study.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Options for Topical Treatment of Oxidative Eye Diseases with a Special Focus on Retinopathies.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Review
- Genetic variants affecting NQO1 protein levels impact the efficacy of idebenone treatment in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy.Cell reports. Medicine · 2024Article
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Idebenone Attenuate LPS-Induced Systemic Inflammatory Diseases by Suppressing NF-κB Activation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Gonadal hormones impart male-biased behavioral vulnerabilities to immune activation via microglial mitochondrial function.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Article
- Recent Advances in the Treatment Strategies of Friedreich's Ataxia: A Review of Potential Drug Candidates and their Underlying Mechanisms.Current pharmaceutical design · 2024Review
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Ubiquinone, commonly called coenzyme Q10 (CoQ), is a lipophilic electron carrier and endogenous antioxidant found in all cellular membranes. In the mitochondrial inner membrane it transfers electrons to complex III of the electron transport chain. The short chain CoQ analogue idebenone is in clinical trials for a number of diseases that exhibit a mitochondrial etiology. Nevertheless, evidence that idebenone ameliorates neurological symptoms in human disease is inconsistent. Although championed as an antioxidant, idebenone can also act as a pro-oxidant by forming an unstable semiquinone at complex I. The antioxidant function of idebenone is critically dependent on two-electron reduction to idebenol without the creation of unstable intermediates. Recently, cytoplasmic NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) was identified as a major enzyme catalyzing idebenone reduction. While reduction allows idebenone to act as an antioxidant, evidence also suggests that NQO1 enables idebenone to shuttle reducing equivalents from cytoplasmic NAD(P)H to mitochondrial complex III, bypassing any upstream damage to the electron transport chain. In this mini-review we discuss how idebenone can influence mitochondrial function within the context of cytoprotection. Importantly, in the brain NQO1 is expressed primarily by glia rather than neurons. As NQO1 is an inducible enzyme regulated by oxidative stress and the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway, optimizing NQO1 expression in appropriate cell types within a specific disease context may be key to delivering on idebenone's therapeutic potential.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.