Effect of Quinolinic Acid on Behavior, Morphology, and Expression of Inflammatory/oxidative Status in Rats' Striatum: Is Coenzyme Q a Good Protector?

Quinolinic acid (QUIN) is a toxic compound with pro-oxidant, pro-inflammatory, and pro-apoptotic actions found at high levels in the central nervous system (CNS) in several pathological conditions. Due to the toxicity of QUIN, it is important to evaluate strategies to protect against the damage caused by this metabolite in the brain. In this context, coenzyme Q (CoQ) is a provitamin present in the mitochondria with a protective role in cells through several mechanisms of action. Based on these, the present study was aimed at evaluating the possible neuroprotective role of CoQ against damage caused by QUIN in the striatum of young Wistar rats. Twenty-one-day-old rats underwent a 10-day pretreatment with CoQ or saline (control) intraperitoneal injections and on the 30th day of life received QUIN intrastriatal or saline (control) administration. The animals were submitted to behavior tests or euthanized, and the striatum was dissected to neurochemical studies. Results showed that CoQ was able to prevent behavioral changes (the open field, object recognition, and pole test tasks) and neurochemical parameters (alteration in the gene expression of IL-1β, IL-6, SOD, and GPx, as well as in the immunocontent of cytoplasmic Nrf2 and nuclear p-Nf-κβ) caused by QUIN. These findings demonstrate the promising therapeutic effects of CoQ against QUIN toxicity.