Antioxidant and antiradical properties of esculin, and its effect in a model of epirubicin-induced bone marrow toxicity.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of esculin, a plant coumarin glucoside, on free radicals and against epirubicin-induced toxicity on bone marrow cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Antioxidant activity was assessed by a luminol-dependent chemiluminescence method or NBT test in a xanthine-xanthine oxidase system, and two iron-dependent lipid peroxidation systems. In vivo experiments were carried out in epirubicin-treated mice, alone or in a combination with esculin. Genotoxicity of the anthracycline drug was assessed by cytogenetic analysis and an autoradiographic assay. RESULTS: Esculin inactivated superoxide anion radicals in both systems we used. It exerted SOD-mimetic effect and reduced the level of superoxide radicals generated in a xanthine-xanthine oxidase system by 30%. Esculin also showed an antioxidant effect in a model of Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation. Cytogenetic analysis showed that epirubicin had a marked influence on the structure of metaphase chromosomes of normal bone marrow cells. Inclusion of esculin in the treatment protocol failed to ameliorate the epirubicin-induced antiproliferative effects and genotoxicity in bone marrow cells. CONCLUSION: In this study the ability of the coumarin glucoside esculin to scavenge superoxide radicals and to decrease Fe-induced lipid peroxidation was documented. However, despite the registered antioxidant effects the tested compound failed to exert cytoprotection in models of anthracycline-induced genotoxicity in bone marrow cells. The results of this study warrant for more precise further evaluation of esculin, employing different test systems and end-points and a wider range of doses to more precisely appraise its potential role as a chemoprotective/resque agent.

Novel N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine derivatives: Design, characterization and biological activity.

A series of Calpha,alpha-disubstituted cyclic derivatives of N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine have been synthesized and characterized. They exhibited moderate clastogenicity, low antiproliferative activity on mice bone marrow cells and well expressed cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines. The 8- and 12-membered cyclic analogs proved superior to the remaining compounds and were found to trigger apoptotic cell death in DOHH-2 cells. The latter compound caused 50% inhibition of the viability of hemobastose-derived cell lines at concentrations ranging from 20 to 67 microM.

Mitogenic effect of Carthamus lanatus extracts, fractions and constituents.

Extracts, fractions and constituents of Carthamus lanatus were tested for their mitogenic effect on bone marrow cells in mice. Most of the studied samples inhibited cell proliferation and only the flavonoid glycoside rutin caused increasing of mitotic activity.