The effect of Coenzyme Q10 in Cisplatin induced myelosuppression in rats

Abstract

Coenzyme Q10 (2,3 dimethoxy-5 methyl-6decaprenyl benzoquinone - CoQ10) is a lipid-soluble antioxidant, vitamin-like quinone commonly known as ubiquinone or vitamin CoQ10 present in all tissues and membranes in the body. CoQ10 plays an important role in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, for synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Further, it protects the phospholipids and the proteins in the mitochondrial membrane, from lipid peroxidation (Saini, 2011). On the contrary, Cisplatin, is an antineoplastic drug that is used for treating wide spectrum of human malignancies. However, its therapeutic outcome is limited due to development of nephrotoxicity and myelosuppression. Few mechanisms are involved such as generation of free radicals, inhibition of protein synthesis and lipid peroxidation of the membranes. One of the most important targets of Cisplatin are the mitochondrias, where it reduces the amount of ATP, and consequently increases the ROS species (Choy et al., 2015). The development of new pharmacological/therapeutical approaches and using supplements that aim the same targets as the chemotherapy but in the opposite direction, becomes a game-changer recently. Several clinical studies provided evidence supporting the use of supplements in preventing of Cisplatin induced damage of the bone marrow cells (Lin et al., 2020; Sinha et al., 2015). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the supplementation with CoQ10 on the myelosuppression induced by the treatment with Cisplatin on rats.