To examine whether nutritional supplementation of
coenzyme Q(10) (
CoQ(10)) can reduce
myocardial ischemia-
reperfusion injury, a group of swine was fed a regular diet supplemented with
CoQ(10) (5 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) for 30 days. Another group of pigs that were fed a regular diet supplemented with placebo served as a control. After 30 days, isolated in situ pig hearts were prepared and hearts were perfused with a cardiopulmonary pump system. Each heart was subjected to 15 min of regional
ischemia by snaring of the left anterior descending coronary artery, followed by 60 min of hypothermic cardioplegic global
ischemia and 120 min of reperfusion. After the experiments were completed,
myocardial infarct size was measured by triphenyltrazolium
chloride staining methods. Postischemic left ventricular contractile function was better recovered in the
CoQ(10) group than in the control group of pigs. CoQ(10)-fed pigs revealed less
myocardial infarction and less
creatine kinase release from the coronary effluent compared with control pigs. The experimental group also demonstrated a smaller amount of
malonaldehyde in the coronary effluent and a higher content of the
endogenous antioxidants ascorbate and
thiol. Significant induction of the expression of
ubiquitin mRNA was also found in the hearts of the CoQ(10)-fed group. The results of this study demonstrate that nutritional supplementation of
CoQ(10) renders the hearts resistant to
ischemia-reperfusion injury, probably by reducing the oxidative stress.