A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy of Three Month Therapy of Ubidecarenone in Patients with Cisplatin Based Regimen Induced Cachexia
Description
Cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by negative protein and energy balance, causing muscle loss and functional decline. Chemotherapy-induced cachexia results from mitochondrial ROS generation and mitochondrial dysfunction caused by chemotherapy. Ubidecarenone (Coenzyme Q), with its antioxidant properties, may mitigate these ill effects, though its efficacy in reducing severity of chemotherapy-induced cachexia remains unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of three month therapy of Ubidecarenone in patients with cisplatin based regimen induced cachexia at a tertiary care hospital in Aligarh, India. This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled prospective pilot study enrolled 60 patients, divided into two treatment arms: one receiving 100 mg Ubidecarenone and the other, matching placebo tablets. Over three months, patients were evaluated based on physical, hematological, biochemical, and inflammatory markers, with the CASCO score assessing chemotherapy-induced cachexia severity. There was no statistically significant difference observed between the BMI, body weight, body fat percentage, lean body mass, laboratory markers (CRP, ALC, haemoglobin, Leptin, and GDF-15) and the CASCO Score comparing the Ubidecarenone and Placebo arms. Ubidecarenone, although a promising candidate in reducing severity of chemotherapy-induced cachexia, demonstrated no significant efficacy in our study. Keywords: Cachexia, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Coenzyme Q, Cisplatin, Ubidecarenone.