Relationship of electrochemical oxidation of catechins on their antioxidant activity in microsomal lipid peroxidation

The oxidation potentials of catechins were measured by employing flow-through column electrolysis. The oxidation potentials of catechins were shown to depend on their structures. At the same time, the antioxidant activity of catechins on NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes was evaluated. Catechins showed a 50% inhibition of lipid peroxidation in the concentration range of 10-51 muM. Among those studied, galloylated catechins exhibited stronger antioxidant activities than those of nongalloylated catechins, A quantitative relationship has been obtained to describe the antioxidant activity of catechins: log IC50 (muM)=1.56+2.49E(1/2) (V)-0.29 log P (r=0.907), where IC50 represents the concentration for 50% inhibition of lipid peroxidation, E-1/2 represents the half-wave potential of the first oxidation wave, and P represents the octanol/water partition coefficient. This relationship suggested two important characteristics determining catechin antioxidant activity namely the ease of oxidation and the lipophilicity.