Coumarin moiety can enhance abilities of chalcones to inhibit DNA oxidation and to scavenge radicals

Abstract

Coumarin and chalcone are naturally occurring compounds, and coumarin as a functional group was combined with chalcone in this work, aiming to test the inhibitory effects of coumarin-substituted chalcones on the oxidation of DNA and on scavenging radicals. It was found that the antioxidant activity of hydroxyl group attaching to coumarin can be increased by hydroxyl groups attaching to chalcone. The double hydroxyl groups at adjacent position exhibited high abilities to inhibit Cu2+/glutathione-induced oxidation of DNA and to trap 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) cationic radical (ABTS+) as well as 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH). Especially, the double hydroxyl groups in chalcone were able to protect DNA against 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropanehydrochloride) (AAPH)-induced oxidation significantly. On the other hand, the hydroxyl group attaching to coumarin exhibited high ability to inhibit OH-induced oxidation of DNA. Therefore, coumarin-appended chalcones exhibited higher antioxidant effectiveness with only single or double phenolic hydroxyl groups contained.