Abstract
In this work, the relationship between the molecular structure of three flavonoids (kaempferol, quercetin and morin), their relative location in microheterogeneous media (liposomes and erythrocyte membranes) and their reactivity against singlet oxygen was studied. The changes observed in membrane fluidity induced by the presence of these flavonoids and the influence of their lipophilicity/hydrophilicity on the antioxidant activity in lipid membranes were evaluated by means of fluorescent probes such as Laurdan and diphenylhexatriene (DPH). The small differences observed for the value of generalized polarization of Laurdan (GP) curves in function of the concentration of flavonoids, indicate that these three compounds promote similar alterations in liposomes and erythrocyte membranes. In addition, these compounds do not produce changes in fluorescence anisotropy of DPH, discarding their location in deeper regions of the lipid bilayer. The determined chemical reactivity sequence is similar in all the studied media (kaempferol < quercetin < morin). Morin is approximately 10 times more reactive than quercetin and 20 to 30 times greater than kaempferol, depending on the medium.
Highlights
For many years, flavonoids have been studied for their role in a broad variety of beneficial properties on human health [1,2,3,4,5]
Some of the pharmacological properties of flavonoids derive from their capacity to act as antioxidant in biological systems against free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as singlet molecular oxygen, and its capacity to locate inside membranes [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]
Prepared erythrocyte membranes have an average size of 710 ± 23 nm which is much smaller than the average size of an intact human erythrocyte (8 μm) [69]
Summary
Flavonoids have been studied for their role in a broad variety of beneficial properties on human health [1,2,3,4,5]. Some of the pharmacological properties of flavonoids derive from their capacity to act as antioxidant in biological systems against free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as singlet molecular oxygen, and its capacity to locate inside membranes [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. The flavonoid total capacity to act as antioxidant and free radical scavenger depends on both, their location in the biological membranes and the substituents present in the molecule [14,15,16,17]. Membrane fluidity is an important property on which almost all essential cellular functions Any change promoted by the presence of different substrates on this property can interfere with the normal cell function, yielding for example pathological processes [19]
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