Interactions of Polyphenols with Plasma Proteins: Insights from Analytical Techniques

Phenolic compounds are commonly found in natural sources like plant-based foods and beverages. These compounds have received much attention due to their unique biological properties. Polyphenols possess a significant binding affinity for serum albumins which are known to be principal extracellular proteins with a high concentration in blood plasma. They act as carriers of several drugs to different molecular targets. This review summarizes the salient features of the reported work on polyphenol-protein interactions by analytical methods viz., chromatography, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy (steady state and time resolved), light scattering, equilibrium dialysis, differential scanning calorimetry, UV-vis spectroscopy, isothermal calorimetry, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, size exclusion chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, FT-IR, molecular modelling, HPLC, NMR, cyclic voltammetry etc. Polyphenol-serum albumin interaction studies assume significance from the view point of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.