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. 2015 May;17(3):321-9.
doi: 10.1177/1099800414543822. Epub 2014 Sep 16.

Ubiquinol reduces muscle wasting but not fatigue in tumor-bearing mice

Yvonne Y Clark  1 , Loren E Wold  2 , Laura A Szalacha  2 , Donna O McCarthy  3
Affiliations

Ubiquinol reduces muscle wasting but not fatigue in tumor-bearing mice

Yvonne Y Clark et al. Biol Res Nurs. 2015 May.

Abstract

Purpose: Fatigue is the most common and distressing symptom reported by cancer patients during and after treatment. Tumor growth increases oxidative stress and cytokine production, which causes skeletal muscle wasting and cardiac dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether treatment with the antioxidant ubiquinol improves muscle mass, cardiac function, and behavioral measures of fatigue in tumor-bearing mice.

Method: Adult female mice were inoculated with colon26 tumor cells. Half the control and tumor-bearing mice were administered ubiquinol (500 mg/kg/day) in their drinking water. Voluntary wheel running (i.e., voluntary running activity [VRA]) and grip strength were measured at Days 0, 8, 14, and 17 of tumor growth. Cardiac function was measured using echocardiography on Day 18 or 19. Biomarkers of inflammation, protein degradation, and oxidative stress were measured in serum and heart and gastrocnemius tissue.

Results: VRA and grip strength progressively declined in tumor-bearing mice. Muscle mass and myocardial diastolic function were decreased, and expression of proinflammatory cytokines was increased in serum and muscle and heart tissue on Day 19 of tumor growth. Oxidative stress was present only in the heart, while biomarkers of protein degradation were increased only in the gastrocnemius muscle. Ubiquinol increased muscle mass in the tumor-bearing and control animals but had no effect on the expression of biomarkers of inflammation, protein degradation, or oxidative stress or on behavioral measures of fatigue.

Keywords: cancer-related fatigue; colon26 adenocarcinoma; mice; oxidative stress; tumor growth; ubiquinol.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of tumor growth and ubiquinol on expression of MAFbx, MuRF1, and BNIP3 mRNA in gastrocnemius muscle (a) and heart (b). Main effect of tumor in gastrocnemius, p < .01. CC = control no drug, n = 16; CU = control/ubiquinol, n = 16; TC = tumor no drug, n = 16; TU = tumor/ubiquinol, n = 16.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of tumor growth and ubiquinol on grip strength. Main effect of tumor, p = .05; main effect of days, p < .01; day-by-tumor interaction, p < .01. For all groups, n = 16.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of tumor growth and ubiquinol on voluntary running activity. Main effect of tumor, p < .01; day-by-tumor interaction, p = .04. CC = control no drug, n = 11; CU = control/ ubiquinol, n = 12; TC = tumor no drug, n = 12; TU = tumor/ubiquinol, n = 11.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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