Contrasting Role of Concentration in Rivaroxaban Induced Toxicity and Oxidative Stress in Isolated Kidney Mitochondria

Rivaroxaban as a small molecule is able to directly and reversibly inhibit the factor Xa. This study was designed to figure out the evaluation effect of rivaroxaban on mitochondria obtained from rat kidneys. We isolated mitochondria from rat kidneys using gradient centrifugation. Then, the toxicity parameters including succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, mitochondrial swelling, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) collapse and cytochrome c release were measured in kidneys mitochondria following the exposure to rivaroxaban. The results showed that rivaroxaban (1.4 and 2.8 mM) raised the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, swelling in the mitochondria, collapse in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cytochrome c release in the mitochondria isolated from kidneys. While, rivaroxaban at a higher concentration of 5.6 mM showed the opposite effect compared to other lower concentrations. The results indicate that rivaroxaban may have antioxidant effects at high concentrations. The results suggest that rivaroxaban (5.6 mM) has protective effects against oxidative stress and mitochondrial toxicity.