Renoprotective Potential of Coenzyme Q10 and Quercetin in an Experimental Model of Carbon Tetrachloride–Induced Kidney Injury

الملخص

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced nephrotoxicity is a long-established model of oxidative stress-induced renal injury. This paper compared the protective properties of quercetin and coenzyme Q10, singly and in combination with CCl 4 to produce renal dysfunction in rats, using silymamarin as a control. The study was done on 42 male rats that were distributed into six groups and treated over a period of 60 days. Renal condition was determined through serum urea, creatinine and cystatin C whereas oxidative stress and inflammation was measured using malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), HMGB1 and TNF-alpha. To determine the correlations between biochemical changes and structural damage, histopathological analysis was conducted. Administration of CCl 4 caused significant renal dysfunction, oxidative imbalance, and inflammatory activation, with glomerular and tubular damage. Quercetin or coenzyme Q10 pretreatment had a great effect in ameliorating these changes. It is worth noting that combined therapy had a better protective effect, normalizing renal biomarkers and tissue architecture to near-normal levels, similar to or better than silymarin. The results underscore the potential of combined antioxidant therapy as synergistic nephroprotectant.