Traumatic Brain Injury Alters Cerebral Concentrations and Redox States of Coenzymes Q<sub>9</sub> and Q<sub>10</sub> in the Rat
Giacomo Lazzarino,
Renata Mangione,
Miriam Wissam Saab,
Barbara Tavazzi,
Alessandra Pittalà,
Stefano Signoretti,
Valentina Di Pietro,
Giuseppe Lazzarino,
Angela Maria Amorini
Affiliations
Giacomo Lazzarino
Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, UniCamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences, Via di Sant’Alessandro 8, 00131 Rome, Italy
Renata Mangione
Department of Basic Biotechnological Sciences, Intensive and Perioperative Clinics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Miriam Wissam Saab
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Division of Medical Biochemistry, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy
Barbara Tavazzi
Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, UniCamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences, Via di Sant’Alessandro 8, 00131 Rome, Italy
Alessandra Pittalà
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Division of Medical Biochemistry, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy
Stefano Signoretti
Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, UniCamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences, Via di Sant’Alessandro 8, 00131 Rome, Italy
Valentina Di Pietro
Neurotrauma and Ophthalmology Research Group, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Giuseppe Lazzarino
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Division of Medical Biochemistry, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy
Angela Maria Amorini
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Division of Medical Biochemistry, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy
To date, there is no information on the effect of TBI on the changes in brain CoQ levels and possible variations in its redox state. In this study, we induced graded TBIs (mild TBI, mTBI and severe TBI, sTBI) in male rats, using the weight-drop closed-head impact acceleration model of trauma. At 7 days post-injury, CoQ9, CoQ10 and α-tocopherol were measured by HPLC in brain extracts of the injured rats, as well as in those of a group of control sham-operated rats. In the controls, about the 69% of total CoQ was in the form of CoQ9 and the oxidized/reduced ratios of CoQ9 and CoQ10 were, respectively, 1.05 ± 0.07 and 1.42 ± 0.17. No significant changes in these values were observed in rats experiencing mTBI. Conversely, in the brains of sTBI-injured animals, an increase in reduced and a decrease in oxidized CoQ9 produced an oxidized/reduced ratio of 0.81 ± 0.1 (p 10 generated a corresponding oxidized/reduced ratio of 1.38 ± 0.23 (p p p 9 and CoQ10 in rat brain mitochondria, these results demonstrate, for the first time to the best of knowledge, that sTBI alters the levels and redox states of CoQ9 and CoQ10, thus adding a new explanation to the mitochondrial impairment affecting ETC, OXPHOS, energy supply and antioxidant defenses following sTBI.
