Title : Synergy of antioxidant and drug delivery abilities of glycyrrhizin
Abstract:
Electron transfer plays a critical role in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in living systems. Molecular oxygen acts as a terminal electron acceptor in the respiratory chains of aerobic organisms, as well as in some photoinduced processes with subsequent formation of ROS. Two main mechanisms of antioxidant protection by exogenous antioxidants are usually considered. The first is the inhibition of ROS formation, the second is the capture of free radicals. In this work, we investigated the mechanism of the antioxidant activity of glycyrrhizin (the main active component of licorice root) and its aglycone, glycyrrhetic acid. Glycyrrhizin has long been used in folk medicine in China, Egypt, Japan and other countries for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Recent studies by Russian scientists have revealed another amazing property of glycyrrhizin, namely the ability to enhance the effect of other medicinal compounds due to the formation of supramolecular complexes. However, among scientists there is still no consensus on the physicochemical mechanisms of the biological activity of glycyrrhizin at the molecular level, and discussions on this topic continue to this dayIn the present work, we tried to systematize the available data on the antioxidant activity of glycyrrhizin, obtained using various physicochemical methods, including chemicaly induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP) [1–2] and dissociative electron attachment (DEA) techniques [3], and also to stimulate further research and discussion about the mechanisms of its activity and the prospects for its use as a multifunctional drug delivery system. In particular, the affinity of solvated electrons to the glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetic acid molecules was demonstrated using the CIDNP and DEA methods. DEA experiments indicate that glycyrrhetic acid is an even better electron acceptor than molecular oxygen, at least under gas phase conditions.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- Glycyrrhizin as a new multifunctional drug delivery system – new data will be interesting to a wide audience of scientific researchers in the fields of medicinal chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and membrane biophysics, as well as for education purposes.
- Synergy of drug delivery with antioxidant activity
- Application of physical methods, CIDNP and DEA, in drug discovery
