Plasma levels of coenzyme Q(10), vitamin E and lipids in uremic patients on conservative therapy and hemodialysis treatment: some possible biochemical and clinical implications.

Coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)), vitamin E, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol (HDLC) and triglycerides were measured in the plasma of 62 patients with kidney failure, 46 under hemodialysis treatment and 16 under conservative therapy, and 95 controls. The sum of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and VLDL-cholesterol (VLDL-C) was also calculated for each patient. The ratio CoQ(10)/LDL-C+VLDL-C in both conservative therapy and hemodialysis populations was significantly lower (P<0.001) compared with normal controls and remained unchanged after the dialysis treatment. On the contrary the ratio vitamin E/LDL-C+VLDL-C was normal but decreased significantly (P<0.02) after each dialysis. Since coenzyme Q is the main inhibitor of the prooxidant action of vitamin E, it was hypothesized that its decrease in both the populations examined could make the lipoproteins of these patients more vulnerable to a peroxidative attack.