Free Radical Scavenging and Cellular Antioxidant Properties of Astaxanthin.
Astaxanthin is a coloring agent which is used as a feed additive in aquaculture nutrition. Recently, potential health benefits of astaxanthin have been discussed which may be partly related to its free radical scavenging and antioxidant properties. Our electron spin resonance (ESR) and spin trapping data suggest that synthetic astaxanthin is a potent free radical scavenger in terms of diphenylpicryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) and galvinoxyl free radicals. Furthermore, astaxanthin dose-dependently quenched singlet oxygen as determined by photon counting. In addition to free radical scavenging and singlet oxygen quenching properties, astaxanthin induced the antioxidant enzyme paroxoanase-1, enhanced glutathione concentrations and prevented lipid peroxidation in cultured hepatocytes. Present results suggest that, beyond its coloring properties, synthetic astaxanthin exhibits free radical scavenging, singlet oxygen quenching, and antioxidant activities which could probably positively affect animal and human health.
['Dose|Janina|J|', 'Matsugo|Seiichi|S|', 'Yokokawa|Haruka|H|', 'Koshida|Yutaro|Y|', 'Okazaki|Shigetoshi|S|', 'Seidel|Ulrike|U|', 'Eggersdorfer|Manfred|M|', 'Rimbach|Gerald|G|', 'Esatbeyoglu|Tuba|T|']
D002460:Cell Line D016166:Free Radical Scavengers D056945:Hep G2 Cells D022781:Hepatocytes D006801:Humans D015227:Lipid Peroxidation D024341:Xanthophylls
free radical scavenging antioxidant astaxanthin electron spin resonance spectroscopy