PQQ dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
PQQ is sold to grow new mitochondria, the cell's power plants. In a six-week training study, PQQ raised one mitochondria-building protein more than a dummy pill did, but did nothing for fitness. A study in human skin cells found no new mitochondria at all.
Evidence grade for PQQ: Moderate. The rule: at least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. The sum on this page: 3 completed trials, 116 people given it. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 116
- Human studies
- 3
- Found nothing
- 2
Dose
No human dose established
Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose.
3 completed trials, 116 people given it
5 effects reported, 4 unwanted, 1 wanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Muscle and strength, Brain, memory and mood, Heart and circulation
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
PQQ is a small molecule found in tiny amounts in food. It is sold as a supplement to grow new mitochondria, the cell's power plants. It is often stacked with CoQ10.
What people take it for
- More energy and stamina.
- Clearer thinking.
- New mitochondria.
What studies in people showed
The biggest study, run by industry, had 64 healthy adults. After 12 weeks, the PQQ group did better on a computer thinking test. The exercise study had 23 untrained men. They took 20 mg a day or a dummy pill through six weeks of training. Both groups got fitter by the same amount. A protein tied to new mitochondria rose more on PQQ, but fitness did not. In human skin cells, it did not grow new mitochondria.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- Some people report more energy, stamina and clear thinking within the first week.
The bad
- Many say they took 10 to 20 mg a day for a year or more and felt nothing.
- Taken in the afternoon or evening, it can cause racing thoughts and bad sleep.
- A few report headache, a pounding heart after a couple of months, or a stretch of bad mood and tiredness.
- It is often taken with CoQ10, so people cannot tell which one caused a problem.
Where these come from: The good and bad lines are forum patterns from LongeCity threads shown on this page. They are not from a study. The study numbers are from the studies on this page.
My bottom line
It moved a lab marker and not fitness. If you take it, take it in the morning. Training is what made both groups fitter in that study.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Measured in people
Goals PQQ has been tested for in people, biggest studies first. We count only what the studies on this page say, so the real numbers may be higher.
- Memory and thinking98 people · 2 studies
- Cholesterol and blood fats29 people · 1 study · 1 found nothing
- Lasting longer, stamina23 people · 1 study · 1 found nothing
What people using it report
Real people telling you what happened to them. Nobody checked it, and the people who post are not a fair sample, so it cannot prove anything works. It is still the best guide on this page to what people actually do with PQQ, what they expect, and what goes wrong. The full account, including the negative reports, is below.
28 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind PQQ
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove PQQ does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about PQQ and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is PQQ?
PQQ is sold to grow new mitochondria, the cell's power plants. In a six-week training study, PQQ raised one mitochondria-building protein more than a dummy pill did, but did nothing for fitness. A study in human skin cells found no new mitochondria at all.
PQQ is a small molecule found in tiny amounts in food and sold as a supplement, usually as a salt called PQQ disodium. The sales claim is specific and testable: that it grows new mitochondria by switching on a master protein called PGC-1alpha.
The claim has been tested both ways. Start with the people. The biggest study, run by industry, gave 64 healthy Japanese adults aged 40 to under 80 PQQ or a dummy for 12 weeks. The PQQ group did better on several parts of a computer test of thinking. A study of 34 older people with mild memory problems gave PQQ mixed with hydrogen-making minerals, so any result cannot be pinned on PQQ. Its main measure, a brain growth protein in the blood, only leaned toward a difference between groups. A study of 29 people, run by the maker of BioPQQ, found no change in triglycerides and a small dip in bad cholesterol.
The key study is on exercise. 23 untrained men took 20 mg a day of PQQ or a dummy pill during a supervised six-week endurance program. PGC-1alpha rose more in the PQQ group. Fitness did not. Peak oxygen use and how long they lasted on the test improved in both groups, from the training, with no real difference between them. Body makeup did not differ either. The lab marker moved and the real result did not. That is the most telling result in the PQQ research.
Against the claim directly, a 2022 study in human skin cells found that PQQ disodium did not increase new mitochondria in either type of skin cell. The rodent and mouse work behind the AMPK and PGC-1alpha story is real, but it is rodent and mouse work.
How does PQQ work?
PQQ flips back and forth between two chemical states. That lets it act as an antioxidant and as a signal inside cells. The proposed route is switching on AMPK, an energy sensor, which then turns up PGC-1alpha, the protein that drives new mitochondria. That has been shown in a rodent model of Parkinson's disease and in mouse work. In the one human study that measured it, PGC-1alpha did rise more with PQQ during training. In human skin cells in a dish, new mitochondria did not increase.
What have studies in people found about PQQ?
PQQ has been tested in people several times, in studies of 23 to 64 people, mostly paid for by industry. The exercise study found no benefit. The thinking studies were positive, and small. The test of the main claim in human cells found nothing.
- Thinking, 64 healthy adults aged 40 to under 80, 12 weeks: better than the dummy on several parts of a computer thinking test and on a memory screening test. Branded product, industry authors, and a published correction.
- Mild memory problems, 34 people, six weeks: PQQ given together with hydrogen-making minerals. The main measure, a brain growth protein, only leaned toward a difference between groups.
- Blood fats, 29 adults, 12 weeks: triglycerides unchanged, bad (LDL) cholesterol down slightly from 136.1 to 127.0 mg/dL. Run by the maker.
- Exercise, 23 untrained men, 20 mg a day for six weeks with supervised training: no difference between groups in fitness or body makeup, though PGC-1alpha was higher with PQQ.
- Human skin cells in a dish: no increase in new mitochondria.
What this does not tell you: Every human study here is small, and most are paid for or written by companies selling the ingredient. That does not rule them out, but it has to be said. The positive results are the thinking ones, and they come from the most commercially interested studies, using a test battery with many parts, which makes a chance win more likely. The one study that measured a hard fitness result found nothing. And the only clean test of the sales claim in human cells found nothing, which matters more than any lab marker moving.
What do people who took PQQ report?
This is what real people say happened to them, good and bad. Nobody measured it. A report cannot tell a real effect from the lift people get just from expecting it to work, from a diet or training change made at the same time, or from what was really in the vial. We still put it near the top. It is the next best thing to a study in people: what happens when real people use it, including what goes wrong.
- The discussion splits three ways and none of the three is small. People who report nothing, people who report a clear change, and people who report a distinctly bad time all appear in the same threads, and the long-running verdict thread never resolves.
- Doses described sit around 10 to 20 mg a day. Several people describe running that range for a year or more and concluding it did nothing for energy or endurance.
- Where people report something, the timeframe described is fast, within the first week rather than after months, and what they name is energy, stamina and mental clarity.
- Sleep is the most consistent negative. Taking it in the afternoon or evening is repeatedly described as producing racing thoughts and physical restlessness that prevent sleep, and insomnia with early waking after several consecutive days appears as a distinct pattern.
- More serious complaints exist and are specific: headache from a single low dose, heart palpitations after a couple of months, and a stretch of severe irritability, fatigue, low mood and carbohydrate craving. These are individual accounts rather than a majority pattern, but they are not isolated either.
- It is often taken alongside CoQ10, and threads where people are trying to work out which of the two is causing a problem are common, which means a share of the reports on either cannot be separated from the other.
Sources: Supplements and Brain Health threads on LongeCity, including the multi-page verdict thread, the experience threads and threads on arrhythmia and insomnia, found by site-restricted search, September 2026. Nothing above is attributed to any specific post and no post is reproduced.
The state of the research
PQQ is a clear example of a supplement sold on a stand-in measure. The claim is new mitochondria. In the one human study that measured both the stand-in and the real result, the stand-in moved and the real result did not. PGC-1alpha was higher with PQQ. Peak oxygen use and exercise time improved the same in both groups, because both groups trained.
That is the honest summary of PQQ and exercise, and it is a useful model. A signalling protein rising in a muscle sample is not new mitochondria. And new mitochondria would be worth nothing unless something you can measure got better.
The thinking research is more favourable and less reliable. Two small studies against a dummy report benefit. One is on a branded product, with industry authors and a published correction. The other mixed PQQ with hydrogen-making minerals. Neither has been repeated by others at a size that would settle anything.
At the doses studied, mostly 20 mg a day, safety looks unremarkable, with no side effects reported. The gap between that and the new-mitochondria claim on the label is the point.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
150people, across 4 studies in people cited here
| Study | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Journal of the American Nutrition Association 2022 | 64 | 43% |
| The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging 2024 | 34 | 23% |
| Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology 2015 | 29 | 19% |
| Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2020 | 23 | 15% |
Counts are the number of people each study on this page says it signed up. That includes studies that only watched people and gave nobody the compound. Studies still signing people up are left out, and only studies cited on this page are counted.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
4 of 6 sources here are studies in people. The rest are not.
- Study in people · done in people467%
- Animal study · done in animals117%
- Lab (cells in a dish) · cells or tissue117%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
The studies cover 5 different years, 2015 to 2024, counted from the list of sources on this page.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Not approved
AU
Not approved
CA
Not approved
Not approved in any of the four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · how much does what
Nobody has tested different amounts in people
This chart would show how the effect changes as the amount goes up. For this compound, nobody has measured that in people. So we leave it empty. We will not borrow an animal chart and pretend it works the same in people.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Supplement
- Molecule weight
- 330.2 Da for the free acid; products usually contain the disodium salt
- Half-life
- Stated in words, not a numbersee the exact wording below
- Chain length
- None on file
Half-life as stated on file: Not characterised here. We could not resolve a primary human pharmacokinetic study, so no figure is stated.
No amino acid sequence is on file for PQQ, which is expected: a supplement is not built from amino acids.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2020Effects of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ) Supplementation on Aerobic Exercise Performance and Indices of Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Untrained Men
PQQ added nothing on top of training. 23 untrained men took 20 mg a day or a dummy while doing the same supervised six week endurance programme. Both groups got fitter, from the training. Neither peak oxygen uptake nor how long they lasted separated the two groups. One protein linked to building new mitochondria rose more in the PQQ group, which is a laboratory measurement and not a performance. The authors say PQQ does not appear to help performance or body composition.
23 untrained men randomised to 20 mg a day of PQQ or placebo alongside a supervised six-week endurance training programme. There were no significant differences between groups in aerobic performance after endurance training (p > 0.05). Peak oxygen uptake and total test duration improved in both groups, from the training. PGC-1alpha protein rose significantly more in the PQQ group. The authors conclude PQQ does not appear to elicit ergogenic effects on aerobic performance or body composition.
- Study in people2022Effect of Dietary Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt on Cognitive Function in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group Study
PQQ beat a dummy pill on a computer battery of thinking tests, and the industry that sells it ran the study. 64 healthy Japanese adults aged 40 to under 80 took it for twelve weeks and 58 finished. The PQQ group improved on memory, reaction time, attention, mental flexibility, planning and motor speed. No side effects were reported. The authors come from the industry and the product is a branded one. The published record also carries a correction.
64 healthy Japanese adults aged 40 to under 80 randomised for 12 weeks, 58 completed. The PQQ group improved against placebo on Cognitrax composite memory, verbal memory, reaction time, complex attention, cognitive flexibility, executive function and motor speed, and on the two secondary scales. No adverse events. Industry authorship and a branded product, and the record carries a published erratum.
- Study in people2024The impact of six-week dihydrogen-pyrroloquinoline quinone supplementation on mitochondrial biomarkers, brain metabolism, and cognition in elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial
Nothing here can be pinned on PQQ. 34 older people with mild memory problems took a six week product that combined PQQ with hydrogen producing minerals, so the two cannot be told apart. A brain growth protein rose inside the treated group but did not clearly pull away from the comparison group, and that was the main thing being measured. Brain oxygen levels rose. One narrow part of a memory scale, orientation, did separate the groups. This is a small trial of a mixture.
34 elderly people with mild cognitive impairment, six weeks. The intervention combined PQQ with hydrogen-producing minerals, so nothing can be attributed to PQQ alone. Serum BDNF, the primary endpoint, rose within the active group (p = 0.01) but the between-group interaction was only a non-significant trend. Cerebral oxygenation rose from 48.4 to 52.8 percent and one ADAS-Cog domain, orientation, showed a significant interaction.
- Study in people2015Effects of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt Intake on the Serum Cholesterol Levels of Healthy Japanese Adults
PQQ did not move triglycerides, which is what it was given for. 29 healthy Japanese adults aged 40 to 57 took 20 mg a day or a dummy for twelve weeks, and nobody involved knew which. Triglycerides came out unchanged. Bad cholesterol dipped slightly in the PQQ group, and dipped more in the few people whose level started high. The study was run by the division of the company that makes the branded PQQ, which makes a small subgroup result worth less.
29 healthy Japanese adults aged 40 to 57 with normal to moderately high triglycerides, 20 mg a day for 12 weeks, randomised and double blind. Mean triglycerides did not change. LDL cholesterol fell marginally in the PQQ group, from 136.1 to 127.0 mg/dL, with a clearer fall in the subgroup whose baseline LDL was 140 mg/dL or above. Run by the division of the company that makes BioPQQ.
- Animal study2021Pyrroloquinoline quinone promotes mitochondrial biogenesis in rotenone-induced Parkinson's disease model via AMPK activation
In rodents with a Parkinson's-like disease caused by a chemical. PQQ increased new mitochondria through the AMPK energy sensor. This is where the mitochondria claim comes from, and it is rodents with a disease, not healthy human muscle.
The mechanistic support for the biogenesis claim, in a rotenone rodent model of Parkinson's disease via AMPK activation. Rodent, in a disease model, not healthy human muscle.
- Lab (cells in a dish)2022Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium (PQQ2Na) Has an NLRP Inflammasome-Induced Caspase-1 Release Influence in UVB-Irradiated but Not ATP-Treated Human Keratinocytes but Has No Influence in Increasing Skin Cell Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Either Human Keratinocytes or Fibroblasts
In a dish, using human skin cells. PQQ did not increase new mitochondria in either type of skin cell. That is a direct miss on the main sales claim. It did change one inflammation signal in skin cells hit with UV light.
A direct negative on the marketed mechanism, in human cells. PQQ disodium did not increase mitochondrial biogenesis in either human keratinocytes or fibroblasts, though it did influence inflammasome-driven caspase-1 release in UVB-irradiated keratinocytes.
Common questions
Has PQQ been tested in people?
Yes. 116 people given it across 3 completed trials cited here, 2 of which found nothing. PQQ is sold to grow new mitochondria, the cell's power plants. In a six-week training study, PQQ raised one mitochondria-building protein more than a dummy pill did, but did nothing for fitness. A study in human skin cells found no new mitochondria at all.
What is the PQQ dosage?
No human dose established. Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose. 3 completed trials, 116 people given it
Is PQQ FDA-approved?
Sold as a dietary supplement in the United States. Not an approved drug for any use, anywhere.
Does PQQ actually create new mitochondria?
Not shown in people. It raised PGC-1alpha in a six-week training study, which is a signal that comes before new mitochondria are made. A study in human skin cells found no increase in new mitochondria at all. Nobody has counted mitochondria in human muscle before and after PQQ.
Will PQQ improve my endurance?
In the study built to answer that, 23 untrained men took 20 mg a day through a supervised six-week endurance program. Their fitness was no better than the dummy group's. The training worked. The supplement added nothing measurable on top.
Should I take PQQ with CoQ10?
That pairing is a marketing habit, not a tested plan. No study in people has compared PQQ plus CoQ10 against either one alone, so there is no evidence for or against the combination.
Does PQQ help memory?
Two small studies against a dummy suggest benefit, and both have problems. One is a 64-person industry study on a branded product, using a many-part thinking test, with a published correction. The other mixed PQQ with hydrogen-making minerals in 34 people and missed its main goal between groups.
Is PQQ safe?
At the 20 mg a day used in most human studies, no side effects were reported, in studies lasting 6 to 12 weeks. There is no long-term human safety data, and no data at the higher doses some products carry.