Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics and main findings of the 20 eligible studies reporting use of CoQ10 to treat AKI

From: Molecular mechanisms underlying the renal protective effects of coenzyme Q10 in acute kidney injury

Study/references

Research object

Types of injury

CoQ10 administration

Associated genes/pathways and agents

Main findings

Yenilmez et al. 2010 [25]

Rats

Induced by ochratoxin A (2.2 mg/kg, gastric gavage)

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

NA

CoQ10 treatment ameliorated the ochratoxin A-induced renal oxidative injuries

Fouad et al. 2010 [41]

Mice

Acute cisplatin (5 mg/kg, i.p.) nephrotoxicity injury

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

Downregulating iNOS, NF-κB, caspase-3, and p53

CoQ10 protects against acute cisplatin nephrotoxicity by decreasing the expression of iNOS, NF-κB, caspase-3, and p53 in renal tissue

Ahmadvand et al. 2014 [26]

Rats

Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity injury

15 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

Downregulating PON1

CoQ10 alleviated gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity by reducing the elevated serum lipid peroxidation, lipid profile and atherogenic index, and PON1 activity

Carrasco et al. 2014 [42]

Patients (n = 100)

ESWL-induced kidney injury

200 mg/day, orally administered during the week before ESWL and for 1 week after

Clinical trial

Compared with placebo group, CoQ10 significantly increased glomerular filtration (P = 0.013) and decreased albumin/creatinine and β2-microglobulin level (P = 0.02)

Fatima et al. 2015 [43]

Rats

Cisplatin-induced oxidative stress injury

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

CoQ10 combined with EGCG was more effective in attenuating renal injury

CoQ10 was effective against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, resulted in a significant reduction of BUN and serum creatinine level

Fatima et al. 2016 [44]

Rats

Cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity injury (7 mg/kg, i.p.)

5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

Combined with 15 mg/kg EGCG

Combined CoQ10 and EGCG significantly attenuated cisplatin-induced oxidative stress, nitrosative stress, and inflammatory and apoptotic parameters

Ozer et al. 2017 [45]

Rats

Cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

NA

CoQ10 showed protective effects against sepsis-induced kidney injury by anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects

Arany et al. 2017 [46]

Renal proximal tubule cell line

Nicotine-induced renal cell injury (cells treated with 200 µM nicotine)

10 µM

Serine 36 phosphorylation

CoQ10 significantly inhibited nicotine-mediated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and consequent apoptosis

Ustuner et al. 2017 [47]

Rats

Gentamicin-induced kidney damage (80 mg/kg/day, i.p.)

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

NA

Necrotic tubuli rate and hyalin accumulation in tubuli were decreased after CoQ10 treatment

Shamardl et al. 2017 [48]

Rats

L-NAME hypertensive kidney injury (40 mg/kg, i.p.)

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

Combination with vitamin D had further effects on all parameters

CoQ10 decreased systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-C, creatinine, TNF-α, and malondialdehyde level

Chen et al. 2018 [49]

Patients (n = 150), rats (n = 45)

Contrast-induced nephropathy

Patients: 20 mg three times daily from 2 days before to 3 days after procedure; rats: 20 mg/kg

Combined with 20 mg trimetazidine

Incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy was significantly lower in CoQ10 plus trimetazidine group compared with control group (6.67% versus 21.3%, P = 0.01); CoQ10 and trimetazidine significantly reduced oxidation stress in an AKI animal model

Akbulut et al. 2019 [50]

Rats

Renal ischemia–reperfusion injury

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

NA

CoQ10 decreased tissue oxidative stress levels and scores of histopathology and apoptosis

Albadrany et al. 2019 [51]

Broiler chickens

Diclofenac-induced renal injury (1 and 2 mg/kg, i.p.)

30 mg/kg, orally

NA

CoQ10 could not alleviate diclofenac-induced renal injury, but worsened impaired renal function

Kennedy et al. 2020 [52]

Mice

Khat-induced nephrotoxicity (1500 mg/kg, gastric gavage)

200 mg/kg, orally

Normalization of GSH and TNF-α expression

CoQ10 decreased creatinine levels and reduced tubular necrosis and tubular epithelium injury

Megrin et al. 2020 [53]

Rats

Lead-acetate-induced renal injury

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

Upregulation Nrf2/HO-1 pathway

CoQ10 reduced the deleterious cellular side effects of lead acetate exposure owing to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects

Abdeen et al. 2020 [54]

Rats

Piroxicam-induced oxidative injury

10 mg/kg, orally

NA

CoQ10 attenuated the piroxicam-inflicted deleterious oxidative harm and apoptosis, improving mitochondrial function and reducing ROS, which might be ascribed to the free-radical scavenging activity of CoQ10

Liu et al. 2020 [55]

Mice

Renal ischemia–reperfusion injury

50 mg/kg, NA

NA

CoQ10 reduced oxidative damage in vitro and in vivo, inhibited renal cell apoptosis, and attenuated inflammatory response in renal I/R injury model, thus improving renal function

Liu et al. 2021 [56]

Mice

Renal ischemia–reperfusion injury

50 mg/kg, tail vein injection

NA

The mitochondria-targeted triphenylphosphine CoQ10 nanoparticles alleviated mtDNA damage, suppressed inflammatory and apoptotic responses, and improved renal function

Alshogran et al. 2021 [57]

Rats

Contrast-induced kidney injury

20 mg/kg, orally

Combined with 10 mg/kg atorvastatin

Pretreatment with CoQ10/atorvastatin showed regenerative effect on distal tubules with mild kidney histology alterations as compared with contrast-induced nephropathy rats

Couto et al. 2021 [58]

Rats

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury

10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally

NA

CoQ10 ameliorated renal function, prevented hemodynamic changes, neutralized oxidative damage, and prevented the progression of histologic damage

  1. CoQ10 coenzyme Q10, AKI acute kidney injury, iNOS inducible nitric oxide synthase, NF-κB nuclear factor-κB, PON1 paraoxonase 1, HO-1 heme oxygenase 1, ESWL extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, EGCG epigallocatechin gallate, MnSOD manganese superoxide dismutase, Nrf2 nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, L-NAME l-arginine analog, BUN blood urea nitrogen, SCR serum creatinine, ROS reactive oxygen species, i.p. intraperitoneally