Protective effects of bioconjugates of curcumin with nicotinic and picolinic acids on markers of oxidative stress in human erythrocytes

Abstract

AbstractPoor bioavailability and instability beyond the natural pH limit the use of curcumin as a promising drug despite its diverse health promoting effects. With a view to address these issues, the bioconjugates of curcumin with nicotinic acid (di-O-nicotinoyl curcumin) and picolinic acid (di-O-picolinoyl curcumin) were synthesized and their effect on markers of oxidative stress were studied. Results demonstrate that both the bioconjugates elicited higher prevention against oxidative injury induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide in human erythrocytes in comparison to pure curcumin as evidenced by inhibition of lipid peroxidation (p < 0.01), prevention of hemolysis (p < 0.001), restoration of glutathione (p < 0.005), and -SH groups (p < 0.005) depletion. The study concludes that conjugated curcumin derivatives may be a potential approach to design compounds with improved biological effects and thus enhanced efficacy