PMID: 16634521Apr 26, 2006Paper

Kinetic radical-scavenging activity of melatonin

In Vivo
S FujisawaI Yokoe

Abstract

Carbon-centred free radicals can be involved in damage to biological systems under hypoxiclanoxic conditions as well as in ischaemia/reperfusion injury. The antioxidant activities of melatonin against carbon-centred radicals are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of melatonin against carbon-centred radicals in a biomimetic model system consisting of growing methyl methacrylate (MMA) radicals (poly-MMA radicals, PMMA*). The kinetics of the polymerization of MMA initiated by thermal decomposition of 2,2'-azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN; R* radical) or benzoyl peroxide (BPO; PhCOO* radical) in the presence of melatonin were investigated by the induction period method under nearly anaerobic conditions. As melatonin concentrations increased, the length of the induction period (IP) increased, but for the BPO system the IP reached a plateau at a molar ratio of BPO to melatonin of 5:1, indicating that the oxidation of melatonin by PhCOO* was limited. At low concentrations of melatonin, the stoichiometric factor (n, the number of free radicals trapped by the antioxidant moiety) for melatonin was approximately 2, but as the melatonin concentration increased the n value decreased markedly...Continue Reading

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