Hypouricemic action of selected flavonoids in mice: structure-activity relationships

Hyperuricemia and gout appear to be rapidly increasing worldwide and frequently cause symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Dietary flavonoids have their potential beneficial effects on human health. In the present study, 15 flavonoids (quercetin, morin, myricetin, kaempferol, icariin, apigenin, luteolin, baicalin, silibinin, naringenin, formonoetin, genistein, puerarin, daidzin and naringin dihydrochalcone) were selected to investigate for their hypouricemic action in mice. Oral administration of quercetin, morin, myricetin, kaempferol, apigenin and puerarin at 50 and 100 mg/kg for 3 d was able to elicit hypouricemic actions in hyperuricemic mice induced by potassium oxonate. Luteolin, formonoetin and naringenin showed the significant effects only at 100 mg/kg. Quercetin, puerarin, myricetin, morin and kaempferol significantly reduced liver uric acid level in hyperuricemic animals. In addition, quercetin, morin, myricetin, kaempferol and puerarin exhibited significant inhibition on the liver xanthine oxidase (XOD) activities. It seems to be likely that these flavonoids reduce serum urate levels by mainly inhibiting XOD activity. However, the hypouricemic effect of apigenin observed seemed not to parallel with the changes in liver uric acid level and liver XOD activity, implying that apigenin might act via other mechanisms apart from inhibiting enzyme activity simply. Analysis of the chemical structure showed that a planar structure with the hydroxyl groups played a crucial role in hypouricemic activity of flavonoids. The exact mechanism of the hypouricemic action of flavonoids in vivo should be investigated in the future.     

Antioxidant activity and flavonoid composition of the new nootropic preparation polynoophyt

The antioxidant activity of the new nootropic preparation polynoophyt has been experimentally studied on a model of hypobaric hypoxia in animals. The flavonoid composition of polynoophyt has been determined, which includes apigenin, hesperidin, luteolin, naringenin, baicalin, quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, and gallic acid. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 10, pp. 22–25, October, 2007.     

In vitro effects of selected flavonoids on the 5'-nucleotidase activity.

A series of structurally related flavonoids and related compounds were evaluated whether they have inhibitory properties on the 5'-nucleotidase (5'-ribonucleotide phosphohydrolase; EC 3.1.3.5, 5'-NT) activity. Some of the flavonoids tested inhibit the enzyme such as quercetin, morin, apigenin, chrysin, myricetin, luteolin, diosmetin, (+/-)naringenin and diosmin. Rutin, naringin, hyperosid, (+/-)catechin, caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid had no inhibitory effect on the 5'-NT activity. Myricetin and quercetin were the most potent inhibitors for 5'-NT with IC50 values of 1.1 and 1.4 microM, respectively. Kinetic analysis showed a mixed type of inhibitor for both myricetin (Ki = 1.5 microM at pH 7.45), and quercetin (Ki = 0.6 microM at pH 7.45). The K(m) value for 5'-adenosine monophosphate (5-AMP) was determined with 77 microM at pH 7.45. The differential inhibitory potencies of flavonoids seem to be structurally related (hydroxylation pattern). The results demonstrate that some flavonoids are strong inhibitors of 5'-NT activity which can be correlated to their pharmacological effects.     

Prevention of cellular ROS damage by isovitexin and related flavonoids

The antioxidant properties of isovitexin and related flavonoids were studied. Isovitexin inhibited xanthine oxidase with an IC50 value of = 15.2 microM. The flavonoid analogues, apigenin, kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin, and genistein also inhibited xanthine oxidase with IC50 values of 0.58, 2.18, 1.09, 9.90, and 4.83 microM, respectively. Isovitexin protected DNA from the Fenton reaction-induced breakage in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 9.52 microM. Isovitexin also protected HL-60 cells from the ROS damage induced by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase reaction. Isovitexin exhibited the lowest cytotoxicity toward HL-60 cells (LD50 >400 microM) compared to the other flavonoids examined. In addition, excess hydrogen peroxide induced by cadmium in A2780 ovarian cells was significantly suppressed by isovitexin. These results suggest that isovitexin in rice may protect cells from oxidative stress.     

Anti-oxidative assays as markers for anti-inflammatory activity of flavonoids

The complexity of in vitro anti-inflammatory assays, the cost and time consumed, and the necessary skills can be a hurdle to apply to promising compounds in a high throughput setting. In this study, several antioxidative assays i.e. DPPH, ABTS, ORAC and xanthine oxidase (XO) were used to examine the antioxidative activity of three sub groups of flavonoids: (i) flavonol: quercetin, myricetin, (ii) flavanone: eriodictyol, naringenin (iii) flavone: luteolin, apigenin. A range of flavonoid concentrations was tested for their antioxidative activities and were found to be dose-dependent. However, the flavonoid concentrations over 50 ppm were found to be toxic to the THP-1 monocytes. Therefore, 10, 20 and 50 ppm of flavonoid concentrations were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated THP-1 monocytes. Expression of inflammatory genes, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α was found to be sequentially decreased when flavonoid concentration increased. Principle component analysis (PCA) was used to investigate the relationship between the data sets of antioxidative assays and the expression of inflammatory genes. The results showed that DPPH, ABTS and ORAC assays have an opposite correlation with the reduction of inflammatory genes. Pearson correlation exhibited a relationship between the ABTS assay and the expression of three out of five analyzed genes; IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8. Our findings indicate that ABTS assay can potentially be an assay marker for anti-inflammatory activity of flavonoids.     

Cytoprotective activity against peroxide-induced oxidative damage and cytotoxicity of flavonoids in C6 rat glioma cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cytoprotective and cytotoxic activities of selected plant flavonoids in C6 glioma cells. Apigenin, kaempferol, luteolin, and quercetin were cytotoxic at low μM concentrations (LOECs: 5-20 μM), whereas myricetin was less toxic (LOEC > 20 μM). Cytotoxicity was not due to H₂O₂ generation from flavonoids in culture medium. Quercetin, luteolin, and kaempferol protected the cells from peroxide-induced cytotoxicity. Concentration-effect curves for cytoprotection had a biphasic shape. In contrast, apigenin and myricetin did not exhibit any cytoprotective activity. The first three compounds also inhibited cellular lipid peroxidation induced by CHP, while the latter were ineffective. Importantly, concentrations of luteolin and kaempferol protecting cells under oxidative stress were identical to those causing cell damage under normal conditions. Only in case of quercetin there was a narrow range of concentrations protecting cells without being cytotoxic to non-stressed cells. Thus, even for flavonoids with a high antioxidant capacity in cell-free systems the cytoprotective selectivity (LOEC_cytotox/LOEC_cytoprot) was very low or even absent. These results should be taken into account when the prophylactic or therapeutic application of flavonoids as antioxidants is discussed.     

Potent modification of inducible CYP1A1 expression by flavonoids

The present study examined modifications of β-naphthoflavone (β-NF)-induced cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) expression by flavonoids in mouse hepatocytes in primary culture. Some flavonoids (apigenin, chrysin, flavone, flavanone, galangin, luteolin, and naringenin) by themselves induced CYP1A1 mRNA expression, especially flavone which was even more effective than β-NF. The effect on β-NF-induced CYP1A1 mRNA expression was varied, namely additive, suppressive, or both. An additive effect was observed after combined treatment with flavanone, naringenin, and chrysin, whereas kaempferol, myricetin, and quercetin decreased CYP1A1 levels. Apigenin, chrysin, galangin, luteolin, and morin synergistically enhanced β-NF-induced CYP1A1 expression at 24 h, but considerably suppressed it at 9 h. The structure-activity relationship of flavonoids affecting CYP1A1 expression as inducers or inhibitors is discussed. The present observations suggest the need to reveal the mechanism by which CYP1A1 expression is modified by flavonoids for risk assessment, since CYP1A1 activates environmental carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons and flavonoids are major constituents in food.     

Inhibitory effect of flavonoids on sulfo- and glucurono-conjugation of acetaminophen in rat cultured hepatocytes and liver subcellular preparations

A large group of flavonoids was investigated for inhibitory effects on sulfo- and glucurono-conjugation of acetaminophen when added to rat cultured hepatocytes and liver subcellular preparations. The flavonoids inhibited the production of both sulfate and glucuronide conjugates in the cultured cells, with potencies that depended on the specific flavonoid. Among the flavonols, quercetin, kaempferol and galangin were much more effective than myricetin and morin. Flavones including luteolin, apigenin and chrysin were as effective as the corresponding three flavonols above. The inhibition of conjugation by other simple flavones such as 3-, 5-, 7- and 3',4'-OH flavones, and by catechins such as epicatechin and epigallocatechin, was very weak. These data suggest that the presence of both C5 and 7 hydroxyl substitutions on the A-ring in the flavone structure is required for effective inhibitory activity. The effect of flavonoids on sulfo- and glucurono-conjugation was also examined by incubating acetaminophen with isolated liver cytosolic and microsomal preparations, respectively. The active flavonoids in the cells remarkably inhibited the sulfation, but not glucuronidation, in cell-free enzymatic preparations in vitro. The mechanism of inhibition of conjugation by flavonoids in cultured hepatocytes is not likely to depend on the direct inhibition of sulfo- and glucurono-transferase activity by flavonoids.     

Effect of flavonoids on rat splenocytes, a structure-activity relationship study

Flavonoids are polyphenols frequently consumed in the diet which have been suggested to exert a number of beneficial actions on human health, including intestinal anti-inflammatory activity. Their properties have been studied in numerous cell types, but little is known about their effect on leukocyte biology. We have selected 9 flavonoids (extended to 14 flavonoids plus the related polyphenol resveratrol in some cases) with different structural features to characterize their effects on leukocyte viability, proliferation, and expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (EC 1.14.99.1), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS, EC 1.14.13.39) and proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-2), as well as to elucidate the structural requirements in each case. Quiescent and concanavalin A-stimulated rat splenocytes were used as a model. Flavonoids (50 microM) had a dramatic inhibitory effect on cytokine secretion. Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression was also blocked largely by some flavonoids, especially quercetin, luteolin and apigenin, while cyclooxygenase 2 was downregulated only by apigenin, diosmetin and quercetin. Apigenin, luteolin, genistein and quercetin had substantial cytotoxic/proapoptotic effects, while chrysin, daidzein, hesperetin and kaempferol did not reduce cell viability. In contrast, all flavonoids had powerful antiproliferative effects. However, none of the compounds activated caspase 3 (EC 3.4.22.56), but actually lowered caspase 3 activation and expression in concanavalin A-stimulated cells. The activity of the quercetin metabolite isorhamnetin was generally lower than that of the parent compound. We conclude that flavonoids have powerful effects on lymphocytes with distinct structural requirements that may contribute to their intestinal anti-inflammatory activity. The bioactivity of orally administered flavonoids may be dampened by biotransformation in vivo, particularly in extraintestinal sites.     

Differential effects of dietary flavonoids on drug metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes in female rat

1. Gavage administration of the natural flavonoids tangeretin, chrysin, apigenin, naringenin, genistein and quercetin for 2 consecutive weeks to the female rat resulted in differential effects on selected phase 1 and 2 enzymes in liver, colon and heart as well as antioxidant enzymes in red blood cells (RBC). 2. Glutathione transferase (GST) activity assayed by use of the substrate 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene was significantly induced by apigenin, genistein and tangeretin in the heart but not in colon or liver. 3. In RBC chrysin, quercetin and genistein significantly decreased the activity of glutathione reductase (GR), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), whereas superoxide dismutase (SOD) was only significantly decreased by genistein. 4. The oxidative status of the animal, measured as plasma malondialdehyde, revealed that chrysin, quercetin, genistein, and beta-naphthoflavone (BNF) significantly protected against, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP)-induced oxidative stress. Hepatic PhIP-DNA adduct formation was not affected by any of the administered flavonoids, whereas PhIP-DNA adduct formation in colon was slightly, but significantly, inhibited by quercetin, genistein, tangeretin and BNF. 5. The observed effects of chrysin, quercetin and genistein on antioxidant enzymes, concurrently with a protection against oxidative stress, suggest a feedback mechanism on the antioxidant enzymes triggered by the flavonoid antioxidants. 6. Despite the use of high flavonoid doses, which by far exceed the human exposure levels, the effect on drug metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes was still very minor. The role of singly administered flavonoids in the protection against cancer and heart disease is thus expected to be limited.     

Dietary flavonoids as proteasome inhibitors and apoptosis inducers in human leukemia cells

It has been shown that proteasome activity is required for cancer cell survival and consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased cancer risk. Previously, we reported that grape extract could inhibit proteasome activity and induce apoptosis in tumor cells. In this study, we examined the flavonoids apigenin, quercetin, kaempferol and myricetin for their proteasome-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing abilities in human tumor cells. We report that apigenin and quercetin are much more potent than kaempferol and myricetin at: (i) inhibiting chymotrypsin-like activity of purified 20S proteasome and of 26S proteasome in intact leukemia Jurkat T cells; (ii) accumulating putative ubiquitinated forms of two proteasome target proteins, Bax and Inhibitor of nuclear factor kappabeta-alpha in Jurkat T cells and (iii) inducing activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in Jurkat T cells. The proteasome-inhibitory abilities of these compounds correlated with their apoptosis-inducing potencies. Results from computational modeling of the potential interactions of these flavonoids to the chymotrypsin site (beta5 subunit) of the proteasome were consistent with the obtained proteasome-inhibitory activities. We found that the C(4) carbon may be a site of nucleophilic attack by the OH group of N-terminal threonine of proteasomal beta5 subunit and that the C(3) hydroxyl may alter the ability of these flavonoids to inhibit the proteasome. Finally, apigenin neither effectively inhibited the proteasome activity nor induced apoptosis in non-transformed human natural killer cells. Our results suggested that the proteasome may be a target of these dietary flavonoids in human tumor cells and that inhibition of the proteasome by flavonoids may be one of the mechanisms responsible for their cancer-preventive effects.     

Polyphenols from plants used in traditional Indonesian medicine (Jamu): uptake and antioxidative effects in rat H4IIE hepatoma cells

Phytochemical investigation of plants used in traditional Indonesian medicine (Jamu) yielded lignans (pinoresinol, 9 alpha-hydroxypinoresinol and salicifoliol), flavonoids (3-O-beta-(D)-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-(D)-glucopyranosylkaempferol, luteolin and apigenin) and coumarins (coumarin, 8-hydroxycoumarin and 5-hydroxycoumarin). The beneficial effects of the respective plants for human health are thought to be associated with antioxidative activity. In the present study, the antioxidative capacity of the isolated compounds was determined in an in-vitro assay. Luteolin and kaempferol (cleavage product of 3-O-beta-(D)-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-(D)-glucopyranosylkaempferol, which is thought to be formed in the intestine) showed strong antioxidant activity; pinoresinol and 9 alpha-hydroxypinoresinol showed only minor antioxidative effects. The coumarins, as well as apigenin and 3-O-beta-(D)-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-(D)-glucopyranosylkaempferol were inactive. The antioxidative effects of luteolin, kaempferol and pinoresinol were further investigated in H4IIE rat hepatoma cells. A strong protective effect of kaempferol and luteolin was found against H2O2-mediated intracellular reactive oxygen species formation measured using the dichlorofluorescein assay and H2O2-mediated DNA strand breaks. Pinoresinol did not have a protective effect against H2O2-mediated DNA-damage, but in the dichlorofluorescein assay, an antioxidative effect was detectable. During studies with H4IIE cells, kaempferol, luteolin and pinoresinol were taken up by the cells within 60 min. The flavonoids were found to be relatively toxic at higher concentrations, while pinoresinol was less cytotoxic. In conclusion, kaempferol and luteolin, at low concentrations (< or = 50 microM), protect H4IIE cells against oxidative stress but are cytotoxic at higher concentrations; the biological effects of pinoresinol are less prominent in comparison. These results are important for the identification of pharmacologically active substances from traditional Indonesian medicinal plants.     

Decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine production by LPS-stimulated PBMC upon in vitro incubation with the flavonoids apigenin, luteolin or chrysin, due to selective elimination of monocytes/macrophages

Apigenin and its structural analogues chrysin and luteolin were used to evaluate their capacity to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Furthermore, flowcytometric analysis was performed to compare the effects of apigenin, chrysin, luteolin, quercetin and naringenin on the different cell types present in PBMC. LPS-stimulated PBMC were cultured in the presence of the flavonoids and TNFalpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 were measured in the supernatants. In parallel, metabolic activity of the PBMC was determined by measuring succinate dehydrogenase activity. Apigenin, chrysin and luteolin dose-dependently inhibited both pro-inflammatory cytokine production and metabolic activity of LPS-stimulated PBMC. With increasing concentration of apigenin, chrysin or luteolin the monocytes/macrophages disappeared as measured by flowcytometry. This also appeared to occur in the non-LPS-stimulated PBMC. At the same time there was an increase in dead cells. T- and B-lymphocytes were not affected. Quercetin and naringenin had virtually no effects on cytokines, metabolic activity or on the number of cells in the studied cell populations. In conclusion, monocytes were specifically eliminated in PBMC by apigenin, chrysin or luteolin treatment in vitro at low concentrations (around 8 microM), in which apigenin appeared to be the most potent.     

Antiherpetic activities of flavonoids against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2)in vitro

Flavonoids, a group of low molecular weight phenylbenzopyrones, have various pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anticancer, bactericidal, and anti-inflammatory. We carried out anti-herpetic assays on 18 flavonoids in five classes and a virus-induced cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibitory assay, plaque reduction assay, and yield reduction assay were performed. When flavonoids were applied at various concentrations to Vero cells infected by HSV-1 and 2, most of the flavonoids showed inhibitory effects on virus-induced CPE. Among the flavonoids, EC, ECG (flavanols), genistein (isoflavone), naringenin (flavanone), and quercetin (flavonol) showed a high level of CPE inhibitory activity. The antiviral activity of flavonoids were also examined by a plaque reduction assay. EC, ECG, galangin, and kaempferol showed a strong antiviral activity, and catechin, EGC, EGCG, naringenin, chrysin, baicalin, fisetin, myricetin, quercetin, and genistein showed moderate inhibitory effects against HSV-1. In these experiments, flavanols and flavonols appeared to be more active than flavones. Furthermore, treatment of Vero cells with ECG and galangin (which previously showed strong antiviral activities) before virus adsorption led to a slight enhancement of inhibition as determined by a yield reduction assay, indicating that an intracellular effect may also be involved.     

Vasorelaxing effects of flavonoids: investigation on the possible involvement of potassium channels

A flavonoid-rich diet has been associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases, probably because of the antioxidant and vasoactive properties of flavonoids. Indeed, many flavonoids show vasorelaxing properties, due to different and often not yet completely clarified mechanisms of action. Among them, the activation of vascular potassium channels has been indicated as a possible pathway, accounting, at least in part, for the vasodilatory action of some flavonoid derivatives, such as apigenin and dioclein. Therefore, this work aims at evaluating, on in vitro isolated rat aortic rings, the endothelium-independent vasorelaxing effects of a number of flavonoid derivatives, to identify a possible activation of calcium-activated and/or ATP-sensitive potassium channels and to indicate some possible structure–activity relationships. Among the several flavonoids submitted to the pharmacological assay, only baicalein and quercetagetin were almost completely ineffective, while quercetin, hesperidin, quercitrin and rhoifolin exhibited only a partial vasorelaxing effect. On the contrary, acacetin, apigenin, chrysin, hesperetin, luteolin, pinocembrin, 4-hydroxyflavanone, 5-hydroxyflavone, 5-methoxyflavone, 6-hydroxyflavanone and 7-hydroxyflavone, belonging to the chemical classes of flavones and flavanones, showed full vasorelaxing effects. The vasodilatory activity of hesperetin, luteolin, 5-hydroxyflavone and 7-hydroxyflavone were antagonised by tetraethylammonium chloride, indicating the possible involvement of calcium-activated potassium channels. Moreover, iberiotoxin clearly antagonised the effects of 5-hydroxyflavone, indicating the probable importance of a structural requirement (the hydroxy group in position 5) for a possible interaction with large-conductance, calcium-activated potassium channels. Finally, glibenclamide inhibited the vasorelaxing action of luteolin and 5-hydroxyflavone, suggesting that ATP-sensitive potassium channels may also be involved in their mechanism of action.     

Antiinflammatory activity of flavonoids: Mouse ear edema inhibition

In this investigation, the various flavonoid aglycones were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against croton-oil or arachidonic acid induced mouse ear edema by oral or topical administration. The compounds tested were thirteen derivatives of flavan-3-ol (catechin and epicatechin), flavanone (flavanone and naringenin), flavone (flavone, chrysin and apigenin), flavonol (flavonol, galangin, quercetin and morin) and isoflavone (biochanin A and 2-carbethoxy5,7-dihydroxy-4′-methoxyisoflavone), along with hydrocortisone, indomethacin, 4-bromophenacyl bromide, nordihydroguaiaretic acid and phenidone as positive controls. As a general, 5,7-dihydroxy-flavonols having hydroxyl group(s) in B-ring and biochanin A (isoflavone) were found to show broad inhibitory activities (14–52%) against croton-oil or arachidonic acid induced ear edema by oral or topical application at the dose of 2 mg/mouse, although they showed less activity than hydrocortisone (26–88%) or indomethacin (36–80%). Flavonoid aglycones tested showed higher activity when applied topically than by the oral administration. It was also found that they inhibited arachidonic acid induced edema more profoundly than croton-oil induced edema by topical application. In arachidonic acid induced edema when applied topically, flavone derivatives such as flavone, chrysin and apigenin were revealed to be the good inhibitory agents in addition to flavonols and isoflavones. When quercetin and biochanin A were selected for evaluating in carrageenan induced rat pleurisy model (5 hr and 24 hr), both flavonoids showed antiinflammatory activity at the dose of 70 mg/kg by the oral administration. All of these results revealed that flavonoid aglycones, especially 5,7-dihydroxy-flavonols having hydroxyl group(s) in B-ring and biochanin A (isoflavone) possessedin vivo antiinflammatory activity.     

Inhibitory effect of flavonoids on N-acetylation of 5-aminosalicylic acid in cultured rat hepatocytes

5-Aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is an effective drug for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. A large group of flavonoids was investigated for their inhibitory effects on the N-acetyl-conjugation of 5-ASA in rat hepatocytes and subcellular preparations. When added to cultured hepatocytes, some flavonoids inhibited the production of N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid (5-AcASA) with potencies that depended on the specific structure of flavonoids. Among the flavonols, quercetin, kaempferol and galangin had inhibitory activity with a tendency to be more effective at increasing the number of hydroxyl substitutions in the B-ring. Flavones such as luteolin, apigenin and chrysin were as effective as the corresponding three flavonols above. 7,3',4'-OH flavone was more effective than other simple flavones such as 7-, 5-, 3-, 7,3-, 7,4'- and 3',4'-OH flavones. Isoflavones were relatively weak inhibitors. Taxifolin and catechins had little or no inhibitory effect. These data suggest that the presence of C7 hydroxyl substitution on the A-ring and the catechol group on the B-ring in the flavone structure is required for effective inhibitory activity. The inhibitory effect of flavonoids on N-acetyl-conjugation of 5-ASA was also examined by incubating 5-ASA with isolated liver cytosolic preparations. The active flavonoids in the cells inhibited the N-acetylation of 5-ASA in the cell-free enzymatic preparations with a potency comparable to that for cultured rat hepatocytes.     

On the antioxidant properties of three synthetic flavonols

The antioxidant properties of a series of synthetic and natural flavonoids towards the oxygenated species superoxide radical anion (*O2-) enzimatically generated, were evaluated. 7-Hydroxyflavonol, 7,3'-dihydroxyflavonol and 3'-hydroxyflavonol were synthesised, with a systematic variation of the OH substitution on positions C3, C7, C3'and C4', and their respective antioxidative abilities compared to those of the already characterised natural flavonoids quercetin, kaempferol and rutin. The efficiency of *O2- deactivation by the flavonoids does not correlate with their respective determined oxidation potentials, suggesting that the pure one-electron-transfer-mechanism of *O2 quenching could not be the main scavenging process involved. Experimental evidence demonstrated that the possible inhibition of the *O2(-)-generator enzymatic system by the flavonoids must be disregarded as a possible indirect cause for the inhibition of the oxidative species. One possible mechanism for the inhibition of *O2-, highly dependent on the substitution pattern of the flavonoid, may be the generation of hydroperoxides or dioxetanes as oxidation products, as already postulated for other biologically relevant compounds. The simultaneous OH-substitution on positions C3 and C7 of the flavonoid skeleton plays a definitive role in the enhancement of the *O2- inhibitory effect. The replacement of OH by a O-rutinosyl group on position C7 suppresses at all that effect, whereas the absence of an OH group in position 7 significantly reduces the antioxidative power. Finally, the presence of OH groups on positions 3'and 4' does not produce any determinant effect in the antioxidative behaviour of the flavonoids.