Abstract

Gamil M. Abdallah, El-Sayed M. El-Sayed* and Osama M. Abo-Salem

Lead is a persistent and common environmental contaminant, which chiefly plays a significant role in modern industry. Coenzyme Q acts as electron and proton carrier in mitochondria and functions as an antioxidant in its reduced form (ubiquinol) . To investigate the hazardous effects of lead on the coenzyme Q level, rats were injected i.p. with lead acetate (5 mg/kg b.wt. daily for 6 weeks). Our results showed that the levels of both oxidized (ubiquinone) and reduced (ubiquinol) forms of coenzyme Q9 and Q10 in serum, brain, liver and kidney of lead-treated rats are quite different depending on the organ tissue type.