Peroxynitrite scavenging by mitochondrial reductants and plant polyphenols

BOVERIS A; ALVAREZ S; LORES ARNAIZ S; VALDEZ LB

Handbook of Antioxidants

Marcel Dekker

Lugar: New York, USA; Año: 2001; p. 351 - 369

The present chapter is focused in the redox reactions of ONOO- with intramitochondrial and intracellular reductants, such as NADH2, ubiquinol, lipoic acid, GSH, ascorbic acid and uric acid, and in the reactions of ONOO- with plant polyphenols such as the flavonoids (+)catechin, (-)epicatechin, and myricetin and the hydroxycinnamates caffeic acid, ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid. An almost linear relationship between the capability of the assayed substances to react with ONOO- and the inhibition of ONOO- induced protein nitration is shown. Plant polyphenols are potentially useful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances for the vascular space considering that are bioavailable and then, that they may reach effective concentrations in plasma and eventually, in the extracellular fluids. Ginkgo biloba and grape seeds extracts, that contain flavonoids among the active compounds, were also tested for ONOO- scavenging activity.