Ubiquinol is a plasma antioxidant. The mechanisms responsible for maintenance of plasma ubiquinol are poorly understood. Here, we show that metabolites of chlorophyll can be found in blood plasma of animals that are given a chlorophyll-rich diet. We also show that these metabolites catalyze the reduction of plasma ubiquinone to ubiquinol in the presence of ambient light, in vitro. We propose that dietary chlorophyll or its metabolites, together with light exposure, regulate plasma redox status through maintaining the ubiquinol pool.
© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Photochemistry and Photobiology © 2012 The American Society of Photobiology.