Evaluation of the Antioxidant Actions of Ferulic Acid and Catechins

Abstract

We have evaluated the abilities of ferulic acid, (+/-) catechin, (+) catechin and (-) epicatechin to scavenge the reactive oxygen species hydroxyl radical (OH.), hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and peroxyl radicals (RO2.). Ferulic acid tested at concentrations up to 5 mM inhibited the peroxidation of phospholipid liposomes. Both (+/-) and (+) catechin and (-) epicatechin were much more effective. All the compounds tested reacted with trichloromethyl peroxyl radical (CCl3 O2.) with rate constants > 1 x 10(6) M-1 s-1. A mixture of FeCl3-EDTA, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and ascorbic acid at pH 7.4, has often been used to generate hydroxyl radicals (OH.) which are detected by their ability to cause damage to the sugar deoxyribose. Ferulic acid, (+) and (+/-) catechin and (-) epicatechin inhibited deoxyribose damage by reacting with OH. with rate constants of 4.5 x 10(9)M-1 s-1, 3.65 x 10(9) M-1 s-1, 2.36 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 and 2.84 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 respectively. (-) Epicatechin, ferulic acid and the (+) and (+/-) catechins exerted pro-oxidant action, accelerating damage to DNA in the presence of a bleomycin-iron complex. On a molar basis, ferulic acid was less effective in causing damage to DNA compared with the catechins. A mixture of hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase generates O2-. which reduces cytochrome c to ferrocytochrome c. (+) Catechin and (-) epicatechin inhibited the reduction of cytochrome c in a concentration dependent manner. Ferulic acid and (+/-) catechin had only weak effects. All the compounds tested were able to scavenge hypochlorous acid at a rate sufficient to protect alpha-1-antiproteinase against inactivation. Our results show that catechins and ferulic acid possess antioxidant properties. This may become important given the current search for "natural" replacements for synthetic antioxidant food additives.

Protective Effects of Ferulic Acid in Amyloid Precursor Protein Plus Presenilin-1 Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer Disease

“…Thus, it is suggested that ferulic acid has multiple modes of action regarding Aβ in the AD pathogenesis. Although the mechanism of the ferulic acid-induced inhibition of Aβ deposition in the cortex was not addressed in the present study, it could be due to ferulic acid's anti-oxidant 4,5) and anti-inflammatory 6,7) activities. However, the reason why ferulic acid decreases Aβ deposition more effectively in the frontal cortex than the hippocampus (Fig.…”

“…3) Ferulic acid is a natural molecule abundantly present in the various plants. It has anti-oxidant 4,5) and anti-inflammatory 6,7) activities. We previously reported that long-term (4 weeks) administration of ferulic acid protects against intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.)…”

Effects of shear stresses and antioxidant concentrations on the production of reactive oxygen species in lung cancer cells

“…Concentrations of these compounds were selected for testing their best antioxidant activities. 61,62 The antioxidant solutions were continuously flowed into the chip for 1 h, and then the cells were incubated with 10 lM DCFDA for 15 min before washing with 1Â PBS for another 30 min. Again, fluorescent images were captured using an inverted fluorescent microscope.…”

Water Extract of Samultang Reduces Apoptotic Cell Death by H2O2-Induced Oxidative Injury in SK-N-MC Cells

“…It has also been used to treat ischemic brain and heart diseases (Kang, 1993;Shin, 1996). The main constituents of SMT are known as phenolic compounds, phthalides, alkaloids, terpene glycosides, and iridoid glycosides (Sheng et al, 2005), and some of these are known to have antioxidant or antiischemic effects (Graf, 1992;Scott et al, 1993;Yan et al, 2004).…”