Attenuation of cocaine and methamphetamine neurotoxicity by coenzyme Q<inf>10</inf>

Abstract

The neurotoxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine (METH) were studied in mice brain with a primary objective to determine the neuroprotective potential of coenzyme Q10(CoQ10) in drug addiction. Repeated treatment of cocaine or METH induced significant reduction in the striatal dopamine and CoQ10in mice. Cocaine or METH-treated mice exhibited increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) in the striatum and cerebral cortex without any significant change in the cerebellum. Complex I immunoreactivity was inhibited in both cocaine and METH-treated mice, whereas tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity was decreased in METH-treated mice and increased in cocaine-treated mice. Neither cocaine nor METH could induce significant change in α-synuclein expression at the doses and duration we have used in the present study. CoQ10treatment attenuated cocaine and METH-induced inhibition in the striatal18F-DOPA uptake as determined by high-resolution microPET neuroimaging. Hence exogenous administration of CoQ10may provide neuroprotection in drug addiction. © Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006.