1. Dietary
antioxidants are thought to be beneficial in reducing the incidence of
coronary heart disease. In this study, we compared
resveratrol and analogues on their antioxidation and
free radical scavenging activities to their protective effects on ischaemia-reperfusion induced
injuries of rat hearts. 2.
Astringinin (3,3',4',5-tetrahydroxystilbene) was shown to be a more potent inhibitor than other analogues against Cu(2+)-induced
LDL (
low-density lipoprotein) oxidation, as measured by the formation of conjugated diene and
TBARS (
thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance) and by the electrophoretic mobility of the
oxidized LDL. 3.
Resveratrol (trans-3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene) and
astringinin scavenged the stable
free radical DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) with an IC(0.200) of 7.1 and 4.3 microM, respectively. 4.
Astringinin has a
superoxide anion scavenging activity about 160 fold more potent than
resveratrol. 5. After a 30 min global
ischemia followed by 2 h reperfusion,
astringinin (10 microM) significantly reduced
infarct size,
superoxide anion production and increased functional recovery of the coronary flow in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. 6. The result showed there is a positive correlation between the anti-oxidation and cardioprotective activities among these phenolic compounds. Our finding together with the fact that
astringinin is more water-soluble than
resveratrol suggest that
astringinin could potentially be used as an
anti-oxidant and
cardioprotective agent in
biological systems.