Biopolyphenolics as antioxidants: Studies under an Indo-Italian CSIR-CNR project*
Mario C. Foti1,‡, Sunil K. Sharma2, Gaurav Shakya2, Ashok K. Prasad2, Giovanni Nicolosi1, Paolo Bovicelli3, Balaram Ghosh4, Hanumantharao G. Raj5, Ramesh C. Rastogi2, and Virinder S. Parmar2
1Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare del CNR, Sezione di Catania, Via del Santuario 110, 95028 Valverde (CT), Italy; 2Bioorganic Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India; 3Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare, CNR, Sezione di Roma, University of La Sapienza, I-00185, Roma, Italy; 4Molecular Immunology and Immunogenetics Laboratory, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi 110 007, India; 5Department of Biochemistry, V. P. Chest Institute, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India
Abstract: A wide variety of polyphenolic compounds (i.e., 4-methylcoumarins, xanthones, pyrazoles, and pyrazolylacrylonitriles) have been examined for their antioxidant effect on NADPH-catalyzed liver-microsomal lipid peroxidation with a view to establishing their structure–activity relationship. Dihydroxy-/diacetoxy-4-methylcoumarin derivatives have been shown to be radical scavengers. The effect of nine different xanthones has been examined on the modulation of cytokine-induced expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in human endothelial cells. 1,4-Dihydroxyxanthone showed enhanced antioxidant activity as well as ICAM-1 inhibitory activity.
*Paper based on a presentation at the 24th International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products and the 4th International Congress on Biodiversity, held jointly in Delhi, India, 26-31 January 2004. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1-344.