Investigation of the effects of coenzyme q10 on isoproterenol-induced cardiotoxicity in rats

The aim of this study is to determine the protective effects of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on cardiomyocytes, telocytes, and stem cells with developing potential in isoproterenol (IP) induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were used in the study. Rats were separated into 6 groups (N=10). Group I: Control, Group II: Saline control, Group III: Oil control, Group IV: IP, Group V: CoQ10, Group VI: IP and CoQ10. Isoproteronol dissolved in saline and administered intraperitoneally at 85mg/kg dosage twice at the 8th and 9th days; CoQ10 dissolved in olive oil and administered by oral gavage at 20 mg/kg daily. Heart tissue samples collected at the end of the study and evaluated. Histon H3 and PCNA antibodies were used to evaluate the proliferation and mitosis in the heart. The presence progenitor cells and telocytes were determined using c-Kit, CD34, CD45, and vimentin antibodies. Western blot and PCR assays were used to evaluate protein and gene expressions. CoQ10 reduced the degeneration, necrosis, inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis induced by isoproterenol on the heart. The stimulation of cell cycle activators, like Histon H3 and PCNA, was determined to play a role during cardiac injury repair in the cardiomyocytes that were known to be postmitotic. Although stem cells are scarcely found in the adult heart, an increase was found in the c-Kit and CD34 stem cells with the positive effect of CoQ10 (P<0,05). The presence of telocytes, which play an important role in cardiac regeneration, visualised using double CD34-c-Kit and CD34-vimentin immunofluorescent staining. The results indicate that CoQ10 ameliorate cardiac lesions caused by isoproterenol, induced the limited number of cell cycle activators in cardiomyocytes and interstitial cells and has a positive effect on the increase of progenitor cells in the heart.