Research Paper|Volume 1, Issue 4|pp 389—401

Mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 inhibits age-dependent involution of the thymus in normal and senescence-prone rats

Lidia A. Obukhova^1,³, Vladimir P. Skulachev², Natalia G. Kolosova¹

¹Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
²A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
³Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk 639090, Russia

Received: March 30, 2009Accepted: April 20, 2009Published: April 22, 2009

Copyright: © 2009 Obukhova et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

One of the most striking changes during mammal aging is a progressive involution of the thymus, associated with an increase in susceptibility to infections, autoimmune diseases and cancer. In order to delay age-related processes, we have developed mitochondria-targeted antioxidant plastoquinonyl decyltriphenyl phosphonium (SkQ1). Here we report that, at low doses, SkQ1 (250 nmol/kg per day) inhibited age-dependent involution of the thymus in normal (Wistar) and senescence-prone (OXYS) rats. SkQ1 preserved total weight and volume of the organ, the volume of thymic cortex and medulla, the thymic cellularity, and the number of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ cells in the thymus. Moreover, SkQ1 was especially effective in senescence-prone rats. Thus SkQ1 slows down age-linked decline of the immune system, explaining prevention by this compound of infection-caused death in rodents, previously described in our group.