Idebenone: When an antioxidant is not an antioxidant

Abstract

Idebenone is a well described drug that was initially developed against dementia. The current literature widely portrays this molecule as a potent antioxidant and CoQ10 analogue. While numerous papers seem to support this view, a closer look indicates that the pharmacokinetics of idebenone do not support these claims. A major discrepancy between achievable tissue levels, especially in target tissues such as the brain, and doses required to show the proposed effects, significantly questions our current understanding. This review explains how this has happened and highlights the discrepancies in the current literature. More importantly, based on some recent discoveries, a new framework is pres..