Abstract
Inhibitory effects of intravenously or orally administered antioxidants on the anthralin-derived radical generated in skin (mainly in the epidermis) of living mice by ultraviolet-A (UVA) irradiation were estimated. Anthralin was applied to the dorsal skin of living mice and the mice were then exposed to UVA. The EPR signal intensity in skin tissue strips obtained from mice after anthralin-UVA treatment was measured by an X-band EPR spectrometer. Several common antioxidants such as ascorbate, glutathione and Trolox (a vitamin E analogue) intravenously administered to mice reduced anthralin-derived radical generation. Trolox showed the most prolonged and powerful effect. Intravenous injection of a clinically used cerebral neuroprotective drug, Edarabone (Radicut®), also showed depletion for the anthralin-derived radical. Oral administration of a commercialized nutritional supplement (a cocktail of 17 herbals and vitamins) also attenuated the anthralin-derived radical. The anthralin-UVA treatment model for antioxidant activity in the epidermis is a potentially feasible method to estimate activity of antioxidants in the body.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank Dr. Joe Z. Sostaric for editing the manuscript.
Declaration of interest: This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid of Scientific Research, for Research in Priority Areas, for Cooperative Research, for General Science Research and for Developmental Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 10 December 2009.