Effects of Coenzyme Q10 on experimental hypertension in the Desoxycorticosterone acetate-saline loaded rats

The effects of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on the development of experimental hypertension and its related conditions in unilaterally nephrectomized and Desoxycorticosterone acetate (12.5mg/kg i. m., weekly)-saline loaded rats were studied. Although 16 of the 17 control rats were hypertensive on the 6 th week, the incidence of hypertension in the groups receiving CoQ10 2mg/kg or 10mg/kg (p. o., daily) was 4 out of 16 and 2 out of 16 animals, respectively. At the end of 6th week, the following findings were detected in most of these experimental animals: a) ascites, increment of tissue fluid in the lung, increased extracellular fluid (SCN-space) in the whole body, lung and liver as well as a decrease in extracellular fluid in the heart, b) elevated Na+/K+ in plasma, c) increased weight of lungs, kidneys, adrenals and heart, d) morphologic changes such as hyaline degeneration in the myocardium, pulmonary congestion, centrolobular degeneration in the liver, fibrotic and hyalinized glomerulus, degeneration of tubular epithelia in the kidney, hypertrophic fasciculata and atrophic glomerulosa in the adrenals. Most of these changes were of slight degree in the animals treated with CoQ10 as compared with the controls. The possible mechanism of antihypertensive action of CoQ10 was discussed from the viewpoint that morphologic changes in the kidney and adrenal cortex were observed to be slight in the animals treated with CoQ10.