Does a PQQ supplement work for mitochondria, cognition or sleep?

The short answer

Evidence tier: 3 — the summary rests on small randomized trials of 6 to 12 weeks and one EFSA safety opinion; no trial measured a health outcome.

PQQ supplements have a small body of human evidence: a handful of short, mostly industry-linked trials suggest modest improvements on some memory and attention tests, and early signals on mitochondrial markers, but no trial shows a meaningful health outcome. Most studies used 20 mg per day of PQQ disodium salt, which the EU food safety agency judged safe for healthy adults. Sleep claims rest on open-label data only.

The main points:

• Cognition: four small randomized trials, with gains on selected test scores rather than everyday function.
• Mitochondria: changes in markers such as PGC-1α, without better exercise performance.
• Sleep: no placebo-controlled evidence we could verify.
• Safety: short trials report few problems; EFSA's opinion excludes pregnant and breastfeeding women.

What is PQQ?

Evidence tier: 4 — food measurements plus cell and animal studies; the claim that PQQ is a vitamin for humans is disputed.

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a small redox-active molecule. Bacteria use it as an enzyme cofactor, and it turns up in trace amounts in many foods. Nearly all human trials used the disodium salt form, sold under brand names such as BioPQQ and mnemoPQQ.

Food sources. A Japanese analysis found free PQQ in every food it tested, at 3.7 to 61 nanograms per gram (Kumazawa et al., 1995). Levels in human tissues were 5 to 10 times lower, suggesting that at least part of the PQQ in the body comes from diet.

A worked example shows the gap between food and supplements. A 20 mg capsule contains 20 million nanograms. Even at the top of that food range, matching one capsule would take roughly 330 kg of food in a day. Supplements are therefore not "topping up" a dietary intake; they deliver amounts thousands of times higher than food does.

The mechanism. In mouse liver cells, PQQ at 10 to 30 micromolar increased mitochondrial content and oxygen use by activating CREB and PGC-1α, two proteins that switch on mitochondrial biogenesis (Chowanadisai et al., 2010). The same paper notes that mice and rats fed PQQ-free diets have fewer mitochondria. This is the basis for marketing PQQ as a "mitochondrial" or "longevity" supplement.

Is it a vitamin? A 2003 paper proposed PQQ as a new vitamin for mammals. Other researchers disputed this, arguing that the enzyme at the centre of the claim showed no evidence of being PQQ-dependent (Felton and Anthony, 2005). No human deficiency disease has been described. "Vitamin-like" on a label is a marketing phrase, not an established status.

Does PQQ support mitochondria in humans?

Evidence tier: 3 — two small human studies measuring biomarkers, one randomized with a performance outcome.

The first human data came from a crossover study in 10 adults (Harris et al., 2013). After about three days of PQQ at 0.3 mg per kg of body weight per day, plasma C-reactive protein and IL-6, two inflammation markers, fell, and urinary metabolites shifted in a way the authors read as consistent with enhanced mitochondrial function.

A randomized trial then tested PQQ during exercise training. Twenty-three untrained men took 20 mg per day or placebo during a supervised six-week endurance program (Hwang et al., 2020). PGC-1α, a protein that signals mitochondrial biogenesis, rose more in the PQQ group. However, aerobic performance and body composition improved equally in both groups. Training did the work; PQQ changed a marker without changing the result.

Does PQQ improve memory or cognition?

Evidence tier: 3 — several small randomized placebo-controlled trials with consistent direction, short duration and mostly manufacturer involvement.

This is where most of the research sits.

Read together, the direction is positive, but three things limit the conclusion. The trials are small and last 6 to 12 weeks. The outcomes are scores on computerized tests, not measures of daily life or dementia risk. And two of the four list authors from the company that makes the main PQQ ingredient; the Baltic trial combined PQQ with another active ingredient, so its effects cannot be attributed to PQQ alone.

Does PQQ help with sleep?

Evidence tier: 4 — open-label data only, summarized in a manufacturer-authored review.

Sleep is a common marketing claim. A 2024 review by authors from the ingredient maker describes an open-label trial in which PQQ was reported to improve sleep and mood (Ikemoto et al., 2024). Without a placebo group, sleep improvements are very hard to separate from expectation effects. We found no placebo-controlled sleep trial of PQQ that we could verify.

How does PQQ compare with other mitochondrial supplements?

Evidence tier: 3 — comparison across separate small randomized trials; no study has tested these compounds against each other.

PQQ is often sold alongside other compounds aimed at the same goal. They act at different points, and none has outcome data in healthy people.

The pattern is the same across the category: each compound moves a marker in the direction its mechanism predicts, but a changed marker has not yet translated into better function or longer healthy life. Combining them, as many "mitochondrial stacks" do, has not been tested in any trial we found. For more on NAD+ precursors, see NAD+ and peptides as a longevity stack.

What doses were used in studies?

Evidence tier: 2 — doses taken directly from trial reports and an EFSA safety opinion.

Most cognitive and exercise trials used 20 mg per day of PQQ disodium salt for 6 to 12 weeks. The early biomarker study used body-weight dosing of 0.2 to 0.3 mg per kg. These are descriptions of what researchers tested, not recommendations; no study has compared doses to find an effective or optimal amount.

How do you read a PQQ supplement label?

Evidence tier: 5 — editorial checklist based on the trial formulations and the EFSA opinion above.

Labels vary more than the research does. Points to check:

• The form. The trials and the EFSA opinion concern PQQ disodium salt. A label that just says "PQQ" may not tell you which form or how it was made.
• Salt versus PQQ. By molecular weight, about 88% of the disodium salt is PQQ itself, so 20 mg of the salt carries roughly 17.5 mg of PQQ. Labels do not always say which figure they report.
• Amount per serving. Check whether the stated amount is per capsule or per serving of several capsules.
• Combination products. Many products add CoQ10, NR or other ingredients. Apart from the Baltic trial, the studies tested PQQ alone, so their results do not carry over to a blend.
• "Proprietary blend". This wording can hide how much PQQ a product contains.
• Claims. "Grows new mitochondria" describes cell and animal findings. No human trial has shown more energy, better performance or slower aging.

Is PQQ safe?

Evidence tier: 2 — regulatory safety assessment plus short-term trial safety reports.

In the trials above, the authors reported no meaningful adverse events or abnormal blood results over periods of up to 12 weeks (Itoh et al., 2016; Shiojima et al., 2022). In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority concluded that PQQ disodium salt is safe in food supplements at up to 20 mg per day for healthy adults, excluding pregnant and breastfeeding women (EFSA NDA Panel, 2017).

What is missing is long-term safety data and any study of interactions with medicines. Because PQQ is redox-active and acts on cell signalling, an interaction cannot be ruled out simply because none has been reported. People who are pregnant, breastfeeding, managing a chronic condition or taking prescription drugs should discuss PQQ with a physician first.

Limitations

This is an educational review, not medical advice.

• We read abstracts and the EFSA summary, not full trial reports, so some dose and dropout details are not given here.
• Every human trial is small, the largest with about 60 participants.
• Manufacturer involvement is high, and independent replication is limited. Small industry-linked trials with positive results are more likely to be published than null ones, so the published record may overstate the effect.
• Outcomes are surrogates: test scores and biomarkers, not disease prevention or lifespan.
• Mechanistic data come from cells and animals, at concentrations that have not been shown to occur in human tissue after a supplement.

The bottom line

PQQ is one of the better-studied "mitochondrial" supplements, which says more about the category than about PQQ. The human evidence points to small improvements on some cognitive test scores and changes in mitochondrial markers at 20 mg per day, in short trials often run with the ingredient maker. Exercise performance did not improve, sleep benefits are unproven, and no study shows PQQ slows aging. Safety looks acceptable for healthy adults in the short term, within the limits EFSA set.

Related on this site

• MOTS-c evidence guide
• SS-31 (elamipretide) and mitochondria
• NAD+ and peptides as a longevity stack
• Peptides for cognitive performance
• Tracking cognitive metrics as an n-of-1
• Longevity biomarkers in 2026
• Longevity pillar

References

• Kumazawa T, Sato K, Seno H, Ishii A, Suzuki O. 1995. Levels of pyrroloquinoline quinone in various foods. Biochem J. PMID 7733865
• Chowanadisai W, Bauerly KA, Tchaparian E, et al. 2010. Pyrroloquinoline quinone stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis through cAMP response element-binding protein phosphorylation and increased PGC-1alpha expression. J Biol Chem. PMID 19861415
• Felton LM, Anthony C. 2005. Biochemistry: role of PQQ as a mammalian enzyme cofactor? Nature. PMID 15689995
• Harris CB, Chowanadisai W, Mishchuk DO, et al. 2013. Dietary pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) alters indicators of inflammation and mitochondrial-related metabolism in human subjects. J Nutr Biochem. PMID 24231099
• Hwang PS, Machek SB, Cardaci TD, et al. 2020. Effects of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) supplementation on aerobic exercise performance and indices of mitochondrial biogenesis in untrained men. J Am Coll Nutr. PMID 31860387
• Itoh Y, Hine K, Miura H, et al. 2016. Effect of the antioxidant supplement pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium salt (BioPQQ) on cognitive functions. Adv Exp Med Biol. PMID 26782228
• Shiojima Y, Takahashi M, Takahashi R, et al. 2022. Effect of dietary pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium salt on cognitive function in healthy volunteers: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. J Am Nutr Assoc. PMID 34415830
• Tamakoshi M, Suzuki T, Nishihara E, et al. 2023. Pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium salt improves brain function in both younger and older adults. Food Funct. PMID 36807425
• Baltic S, Nedeljkovic D, Todorovic N, et al. 2024. The 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. J Nutr Health Aging. PMID 38908296
• Ikemoto K, Mohamad Ishak NS, Akagawa M. 2024. The effects of pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium salt on brain function and physiological processes. J Med Invest. PMID 38735721
• Martens CR, Denman BA, Mazzo MR, et al. 2018. Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD+ in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Nat Commun. PMID 29599478
• EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). 2017. Safety of pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium salt as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 258/97. EFSA Journal 15(11):5058. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.5058 (PMID 32625350)