Flavonoids antioxidant properties

There are numerous synthetic and natural compounds called antioxidants which regulate or block oxidative reactions by quenching free radicals or by preventing free-radical formation. Vitamins A, C, and E and the mineral selenium are common antioxidants occurring naturally in foods (104,105). A broad range of flavonoid or phenoHc compounds have been found to be functional antioxidants in numerous test systems (106—108). The antioxidant properties of tea flavonoids have been characterized using models of chemical and biological oxidation reactions. 

The antioxidant properties of flavonoids are attributable to the ring whose radical has the lower reduction potential. Conjugation between the 2-aryl and the fused benzene rings is very inefficient <96JCS(P2)2497>. 

Epidemiological studies and intervention trials with food and beverages rich in flavonoids are not conclusive although flavonoids were recognized to display numerous antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumoral, and anti-microbial activities. The antioxidant capacity of flavonoids has been largely reported in numerous in vitro and ex vivo systems. Numerous reviews "" have been published on the antioxidant properties of flavonoids. Degenerative diseases are largely associated with oxidative mechanisms that may be counteracted by flavonoids. 

It is possible that dietary flavonoids participate in the regulation of cellular function independent of their antioxidant properties. Other non-antioxidant direct effects reported include inhibition of prooxidant enzymes (xanthine oxidase, NAD(P)H oxidase, lipoxygenases), induction of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, gluthathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase), and inhibition of redox-sensitive transcription factors. 

Many flavonoids have antioxidant properties and as such are thought to protect humans against cardiovascular disease and cancer. Foods containing flavonoids (e.g., green tea, soy, and red wine) are touted as beneficial for health. 

These structurally diverse compounds exhibit a range of biological activities in vitro that may explain their potential health-promoting properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and the induction of apoptosis (Hooper and others 2008). Most of the recent interest in flavonoids as health-promoting compounds is related to their powerful antioxidant properties. The criteria to establish the antioxidant capacity of these compounds is based on several structural characteristics that include (a) the presence of o-dihydroxyl substituents in the B-ring (b) a double bond between positions 2 and 3 and (c) hydroxyl groups in positions 3 and 5. 

This method is also used to measure ex vivo low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation. LDL is isolated fresh from blood samples, oxidation is initiated by Cu(II) or AAPH, and peroxidation of the lipid components is followed at 234 nm for conjugated dienes (Prior and others 2005). In this specific case the procedure can be used to assess the interaction of certain antioxidant compounds, such as vitamin E, carotenoids, and retinyl stearate, exerting a protective effect on LDL (Esterbauer and others 1989). Hence, Viana and others (1996) studied the in vitro antioxidative effects of an extract rich in flavonoids. Similarly, Pearson and others (1999) assessed the ability of compounds in apple juices and extracts from fresh apple to protect LDL. Wang and Goodman (1999) examined the antioxidant properties of 26 common dietary phenolic agents in an ex vivo LDL oxidation model. Salleh and others (2002) screened 12 edible plant extracts rich in polyphenols for their potential to inhibit oxidation of LDL in vitro. Gongalves and others (2004) observed that phenolic extracts from cherry inhibited LDL oxidation in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Yildirin and others (2007) demonstrated that grapes inhibited oxidation of human LDL at a level comparable to wine. Coinu and others (2007) studied the antioxidant properties of extracts obtained from artichoke leaves and outer bracts measured on human oxidized LDL. Milde and others (2007) showed that many phenolics, as well as carotenoids, enhance resistance to LDL oxidation. 

Finotti E and Di MajoD. 2003. Influence of solvents on the antioxidant property of flavonoids. Nahrung/Food 47(3) 186—187. 

People in France eat a lot of fatty foods but suffer less from fatal heart strokes than people in the northern regions of Europe or in North America, where wine is not consumed on a regular basis ( French paradox ). There is an increased favorable effect from red wine. The unique cardioprotective properties of red wine are due to the action of flavonoids, which are minimal in white wine. The best-researched flavonoids are resveratrol and quercetin, which confer antioxidant properties more potent than a-tocopherol. 

In addition to their possible prooxidant activity (see above) polyphenols and flavonoids may influence cancer cells via their antioxidant properties. Recently, Jang et al. [219] studied cancer chemopreventive activity of resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound derived from grapes (Chapter 29). These authors showed that resveratrol inhibited the development of preneoplastic lesions in carcinogen-treated mouse mammary glands in culture and inhibited tumorigenesis in a mouse skin cancer model. Flavonoids silymarin and silibinin also exhibited antitumor-promoting effects at the stage I tumor promotion in mouse skin [220] and manifested antiproliferative effects in rat prostate cancer cells [221]. 

Brown, J.E., IChodr, H., Hider, R.C., and Rice-Evans, C.A., Structural dependence of flavonoid interactions with Cu ions implications for their antioxidant properties, Biochem. J., 330, 1173, 1998. 

Flavonoids often participate in plant reproduction, in the protection of reproductive tissues and seeds, and in seedling development. This may, in part, be due to their role in UV light shielding (thereby protecting DNA) and antioxidant properties, but other functions are also important. 

Therefore, at least in vitro, the protective effects of flavonoids against LDL against oxidation depend on their structural properties in terms of the response of the particular flavonoid to copper and iron ions, whether chelation or oxidation, their partitioning abilities between the aqueous compartment and the lipophilic environment within the LDL particle, their hydrogen-donating antioxidant properties and their capacity to reduce the formation or release of flee radicals by the cells (probably related to the inhibition of NAD(P)H-oxidoreductase and/or PKC activity). 

The olives themselves contain many phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. Bouaziz et al. (2005) investigated the olive cultivar Chemlali from Tunisia. Oleuropein (7.14), a bitter glycoside esterified with a phenolic acid, was the major compound present. Phenolic monomers and twelve flavonoids were also identified. The antioxidant activity of the extract was evaluated. Acid hydrolysis of the extract enhanced its antioxidant activity. / -Hydroxyphenyl-cthanol (7.12) and quercetin (1.43) showed antioxidant activities similar to that of 2,6-di-fert-butyl-4-methyl phenol (7.15), a reference compound with known antioxidant properties. It was suggested that a hydroxyl group at the ortho-position on the flavonoid B ring could contribute to the antioxidant activity of the flavonoids. 

Whatever the mechanism of action for the inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase by flavonoids, it appears to be distinct from the antioxidant properties of these compounds. The results comparing antioxidant activity with leukotriene inhibitory activity clearly demonstrate this distinction. The profound effects of metabolic transformation on the anti-inflammation activity of dietary flavonoids such as quercetin must also be considered in relation to in vitro studies, and further highlights the need to use actual metabolic forms of flavonoids rather than the free aglycone or glycosides occurring in the diet. 

Other antioxidant species are synthesized by cells like uric acid, ubiquinol or thiols (cystein, homocystein, etc.). In addition, many compounds found in food display antioxidant properties retinol (vitamin A) and its precursor /(-carotene, and polyphenols (flavonoids, etc.). Figure 8.2 shows the apparent standard potential of some LMWA and ROS explaining the spontaneous oxido-reduction reactions at the origin of the antioxidant protection system. 

Quercetin, a ubiquitous polyphenolic flavonoid, is one of the most potent natural antioxidants. In addition to its antioxidant properties, quercetin exhibits other activities that may enhance antineoplastic activity. As with genistein, clinical studies are yet to be performed to determine the impact of quercetin on cancer chemotherapy. 

Flavonoids are a family of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables as well as in popular beverages such as red wine and tea. Although the physiological benefits of flavonoids have been largely attributed to their antioxidant properties in plasma, flavonoids may also protect cells from various insults. Nerve cell death from oxidative stress has been implicated in a variety of pathologies, including stroke, trauma, and diseases such as Alzheimer s disease and Parkinson s disease. 

Exposure of rat primary mixed hippocampal cell cultures to either sodium nitroprusside (SNP 100 xM) or 3-morpholinosydnonimine resulted in both a decrease in cell survival and an increase in free-radical accumulation. These SNP-induced events were blocked by either EGb 761 (10 to 100 pg/ml) or its flavonoid fraction CP 205 (25 pg/ml), as well as by inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC chelerythrine) and 1-type calcium channels (nitrendipine). In contrast, the terpenoid constituents of EGb 761, known as bilobalide and ginkgolide B, as well as inhibitors of phospholipases A [3-[4-octadecyl)benzoyl]acrylic acid (OBAA)] and C (U-73122), failed to display any significant effects. Moreover, EGb 761 (50 pg/ml), CP 205 (25 pg/ml), and chelerythrine were also able to rescue hippocampal cells preexposed to SNP (up to 1 mM). Finally, EGb 761 (100 g/ml) was shown to block the activation of PKC induced by SNP (100 xM). These data suggest that the protective and rescuing abilities of EGb 761 are not only attributable to the antioxidant properties of its flavonoid constituents but also by their ability to inhibit NO-stimulated PKC activity (Figure 36.1). 

The spectrum of llavonoid biological effects is very broad the best known are their estrogenic, antitumor, antimicrobial, antiallergic, and antiinflammatory activities (for review, see Cushnie [19]). At least some of these activities are based on non-membrane-related mechanisms, like flavonoid-induced cell cycle arrest. Most of them, however, are claimed in the literature to appear as a consequence of antioxidative properties of flavonoids. 

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