RESUMO
Spinal cord injury (SCI)induced osteoporosis may cause mild trauma to bone and increase the risk of bone fracture. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of coenzyme Q (CoQ10) on SCIinduced osteoporosis in rats. SCI was induced by surgical transection of the cord at the T1012 level. Animals were treated with CoQ10 (10 mg/kg; intragastrically) daily from 12 h after the surgery and over 10 subsequent days. At the end of the experimental period, blood was collected from the animals and femurs and tibiae were removed for evaluation using biochemical assays. Treatment with CoQ10 prevented SCIinduced bone loss by rescuing the decreased levels of bone mineral density and bone mineral content observed in the SCI rats. Furthermore, CoQ10 administration reduced bone malondialdehyde levels with a concomitant increase in superoxide dismutase levels, thus alleviating SCIinduced oxidative injury. In addition, serum inflammatory cytokine levels were markedly increased in rats postSCI, which was attenuated by treatment with CoQ10. Finally, the osteoclastspecific genes receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand and cathepsin K were significantly upregulated and the osteoblastspecific gene corebinding factor alpha 1 in the femur was downregulated following SCI, which was effectively restored following treatment with CoQ10. The results suggested that CoQ10 treatment may be effective in attenuating SCIinduced osteoporosis.