Coenzyme Q-3 as an antioxidant. Its effect on the composition and structural properties of phospholipid vesicles.

Coenzyme Q-3 incorporated into the lipid bilayer at physiological concentration provided an 80% inhibition of the lipid peroxidation induced by ferrous ions. In coenzyme Q-containing vesicles, the fluorescence lifetime and the fluorescence anisotropy decay of the probe, 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, were measured in order to find out if the presence of the quinone can cause variations in the membrane organization. Our data show that two distinct populations of the probe were present and that both populations were available to quenching by coenzyme Q. The overall effects of coenzyme Q on the static and dynamic properties of the model membranes were: a very small effect in the ordering of the fatty acid chain, and a more noticeable decrease of the probe correlation time and, therefore, an increase in membrane fluidity at increasing quinone concentration. When vesicles were peroxidized in the absence of the coenzyme Q, the fluidity markedly decreased; in its presence, the fluidity was nearly unchanged. The results suggest that the antioxidant properties of coenzyme Q can be ascribed to its ability to react with free radicals. The effect on the fluidity of the lipid bilayer might imply that a requisite for a molecule to act as an efficient antioxidant could be its ability to readily diffuse within the membrane.