It has been reported that CoQ10, ubiquionone, may have a protective effect on the mitochondrial injury induced by myocardial ischemia and reperfusion during open heart surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether CoQ10 may enhance myocardial protection when given before ischemia, during ischemia or during reperfusion in the isolated working rat heart. Hearts (n = 6-9/group) from male Wistar rats were aerobically (37 degrees C) perfused (20 min) with bicarbonate buffer. In the first series of studies, this was followed by a 3 min infusion of St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution containing various concentrations of CoQ10. Hearts were then subjected to 39 min of normothermic (37 degrees C) global ischemia and 35 min of reperfusion (15 min Langendorff, 20 min working). The percent recovery of aortic flow (%AF) was 50.5 +/- 3.3% in the CoQ10 free controls versus 55.9 +/- 4.4, 62.1 +/- 3.1*% (*p < 0.05) in the 29, 44 and 58 mumol/L CoQ10 groups, respectively. Creatine kinase (CK) leakage during Langendorff reperfusion had a tendency to decrease in the 58 mumol/L group. In the second series of studies, 3 min of cardioplegia without CoQ10 and 38 min of ischemia (37 degrees C) were followed by a 15 min Langendorff reperfusion with 0 or 58 mumol/L of CoQ10 and 20 min working reperfusion. %AF was 53.2 +/- 2.7 and 39.2 +/- 7.1% in the 0 and 58 mumol/L CoQ10 groups, respectively. CK leakage had a tendency to increase in the 58 mumol/L group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)