Abstract
The side effects of mitomycin C (MMC) on liver cells and the protective effectiveness were investigated morphologically, biochemically and histo-cytochemically.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) prevented the cells from inflation, mitochondria swelling and vacuolation of endoplasmic reticulum, which were caused by the administration of MMC. This might be due to CoQ10 preventing the cells from decreasing energy metabolism.
The biochemical determination of enzyme activities indicated significant difference between the treatments in 5′-nucleotidase (5′-Nase) activity and in contrast, Mg++-adenosine triphosphatase (Mg++-ATPase) was not found statistically different.
The histo-cytochemical observation showed that the activity of 5′-Nase and Mg++-ATPase were decreased by being treated with MMC. But the localization pattern of the enzyme activities was not different from the control when both CoQ10 and MMC were administrated. The present results suggested that CoQ10 could prevent damage caused by antineoplastic agents.
