Ascorbic acid radical scavenger

The oxidation of ascorbic acid with Fe(CN)sL2- (L = pyridine, isonicotinamide, or 4,4,-bipyridine) complexes is postulated to proceed as a rate-determining reaction between Fe(III) complexes and the ascorbic acid in the form of H2A, HA-, and A2-, depending on the pH of the solution, followed by rapid scavenging of the ascorbic acid radicals by Fe(III) complex. The kinetic results are compatible with the Marcus prediction.60... 

Nonaka, A., Manabe, T. and Tobe, T. (1991). Effect of a new synthetic ascorbic acid derivative as a free radical scavenger on the development of acute pancreatitis in mice. Gut 32, 528-532. 

It should be remembered that some of the established antioxidants have other metabolic roles apart from free-radical scavenging. The finding of reduced antioxidant defences in diabetes, for example, may not be prima fascie evidence of increased oxidative stress, since alternative explanations may operate. For example, this may reflect a response to reduced free-radical activity as su ested by the results of a previous study (Collier et al., 1988). In the case of ascorbate, an alternative explanation has been proposed by Davis etal. (1983), who demonstrated competitive inhibition of ascorbate uptake by glucose into human lymphocytes. This view is supported by the similar molecular structure of glucose and ascorbic acid (see Fig. 12.4) and by a report of an inverse relationship between glycaemic control and ascorbate concentrations in experimental diabetes in rats. Other investigators, however, have not demonstrated this relationship (Som etal., 1981 Sinclair etal., 1991). 

Antioxidants Reducing agents, such as vitamins C (ascorbic acid) and E (a-tocopherol), which scavenge toxic free radicals generated by oxidative reactions in the cell. 

There are numerous other polyphenolic compounds possessing in vitro and in vivo antioxidative activity. Several examples of these compounds are cited below. One of nonflavonoid polyphenols of particular interest is resveratrol (3,5,4 -trihydroxy-Znmv-stilbcne, Figure 29.8), which has been identified as a potential cancer chemopreventive agent and an antimutagen [182]. It has been found that resveratrol is the efficient inhibitor of cyclooxygenase and the inhibitor of free radical-mediated cellular processes. For example, resveratrol is a better free radical scavenger than a-tocopherol or ascorbic acid but has nearly the same activity as... 

From chemical point of view, efficient free radical scavengers must contain substituents with the very weak C—H, O—H, or S—H bonds, from which reactive free radicals are able to abstract a hydrogen atom. It can be seen that the antioxidants discussed above (ascorbic acid, a-tocopherol, ubihydroquinones, glutathione, etc) fall under this category. However, many other compounds manifest free radical scavenging activity in in vitro and in vivo systems. 

The absence of substituents with free radical scavenging properties in most of the (3-blockers makes doubtful their efficacy as powerful antioxidants. Arouma et al. [293] tested the antioxidative properties of several 3-blockers in reactions with superoxide, hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and hypochlorous acid. It was demonstrated that most of the compounds tested were inactive in these experiments. Nonetheless, propranolol, verapamil, and flunarizine effectively inhibited iron ascorbate-stimulated microsomal lipid peroxidation and all drugs (excluding flunarizine) were effective scavengers of hydroxyl radicals. Contrary to Janero et al. [292], these authors did not find the inhibition of xanthine oxidase by propranolol. It was concluded that 3-blockers are not the effective in vivo antioxidants. 

Free radical scavenging activity was assessed using the DPPH (1, 1-di-phenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assay as described by Harbilas et al. [22] with incubation time increased to 65 min. Briefly, 250 tiL of 100 timol/L DPPH dissolved in methanol was added to 40 p.L of extract (tested at 5 concentrations) in a microplate well. A standard curve of ascorbic acid (positive control) was included as a reference and all data were blanked against a treatment with only methanol. Absorbance was read with a microplate reader at 517 nm. The inhibitory concentration for 50% scavenging (IC50) of each extract was calculated and compared to the IC50 of the ascorbic acid standard curve. 

Fig. 7.3 Radical scavenging activity as measured in the DPPH assay versus (a) total ginsenoside content (% w/w) and (b) total phenolics (pg quercetin per mg extract) of eight ginseng root samples (n = 3). The log IC50 of each sample was divided by the log IC50 of the standard ascorbic acid to...

Figure 15 Top Photographic latent image formation in undoped (left) and formate-doped and gold-sulfide sensitized AgBr crystals with the hole-scavenging step (center). Secondary reduction step by formyl radical (right). Bottom Sensitometry curves for gold-sulfide sensitized emulsions, undoped or formate-doped, and developed after 5 or 20 min (texp = 10 sec, development with aminophenol and ascorbic acid). The same absorbance is observed for a number of photons absorbed 5 or 10 times less, respectively, than in the undoped emulsion. (From Ref. 200.)...

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