Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 20, Issue 36, 2013

Hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs) are important phytochemicals possessing significant biological properties. Several investigators have studied in vitro antioxidant activity of HCAs in detail. In this review, we have gathered the studies focused on the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of these compounds that have used medicinal chemistry to generate more potent antioxidant molecules. Most of the reports indicated that the p Read More

DNA mutation is a very important step in carcinogenesis and elevated levels of oxidative DNA damage have been monitored in a variety of tumors. The discovery of the role of free radicals in cancer has led to a new medical approach. Minimizing oxidative damage may be a significant advance in the prevention or treatment of these diseases, since antioxidants are able to stop the free-radical formation and prevent oxidizing ch Read More

Antioxidants are of great interest because of their involvement in important biological and industrial processes. According to Halliwell antioxidants are substances that at low concentration significantly delay or prevent oxidation. Chemically, oxidation is a process in which a loss of electrons occurs. Oxidants play a significant role in the pathogenesis of a number of disorders leading to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress may be Read More

Xanthones (dibenzo-γ-pyrones) constitutes an important class of oxygenated heterocycles and occur as secondary metabolites in plants and microorganisms. They are known for various biological activities such as antioxidant, monoamine oxidase inhibitor, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, antithrombotic, antifungal and anticancer. The tricyclic scaffold as well as the nature and/or position of the substituent Read More

Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented progress in biological applications of metal coordination compounds of biologically active ligands because of their key role in clinical therapy. Transition metals are particularly suitable for this purpose because they can adopt a wide variety of coordination numbers, geometries and oxidation states in comparison with other main group elements. One of the characteristics of me Read More

Heavy metals are known to cause oxidative deterioration of bio-molecules by initiating free radical mediated chain reaction resulting in lipid per-oxidation, protein oxidation and oxidation of nucleic acid like DNA and RNA. The development of effective dual functioning antioxidants, possessing both metal-chelating and free radical-scavenging properties should bring into play. Administration of natural and synthetic antioxidants li Read More

In recent years, much attention has been given to dietary antioxidants, especially polyphenols. Several peptides derived from protein molecules have also been found to show antioxidant capacity along with other biological properties and thus there is an increasing interest in these compounds as health promoters. This review summarizes and discusses the main sources of antioxidative peptides with focus on food-d Read More

Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of different human diseases: Alzheimer, Parkinson, Huntington, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), Down’s syndrome, atherosclerosis, vascular disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus type 1 and type 2, age – related macular degeneration, psoriatic arthritis. The aim of current study is to summarize the scientific evidences for the antioxidant and neuroprotecti Read More

The search for metal-derived antioxidants has received much attention and effort in order to identify the compounds having high capacity in scavenging free radicals related to various disorders and diseases associated with oxidative damage, caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Presently, synthetic antioxidants are widely used because they are effective and cheaper than natural antioxidants. Currently a number Read More

The antioxidants and antioxidant enzyme systems belong to the major protective systems of the organism. The use of retinoic acid in many animal models of carcinogenesis has also suggested that its action may depend on its antioxidant activity. Retinoids have been shown to function as effective antioxidants by inhibiting microsomal lipid peroxidation. The importance of antioxidants for the maintenance of health and for Read More

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring phytoalexin found in many plants, nuts and fruits and is abundant in grapes and red wine. Resveratrol possesses a wide range of biological activities which include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, chemoprotective, chemopreventive etc. Resveratrol has been investigated extensively in diabetes and its complications which suggest its anti-diabetic activity and protective effect against various dia Read More