Preparation and effects of 2,3-dehydrosilymarin, a promising and potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger

Abstract

Objectives Silymarin or silybin has been effectively used for treating liver diseases and acute liver injury partly due to its antioxidant activity. In this study, 2,3-dehydrosilymarin, a compound exhibiting remarkable antiradical/antioxidant activity, was prepared from silymarin for the first time. The solubility, radical scavenging capacity and liver protecting activity of 2,3-dehydrosilymarin were studied and compared with silybin, dehydrosilybin and silymarin. Methods The structures of its main components were verified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) and other spectral analysis. In addition, a rapid screening method, online high-performance liquid chromatography/1,1-dipheny1-2-picrylhydrazyl (HPLC-DPPH) system, was developed for identifying the individual antioxidants in 2,3-dehydrosilymarin. Key findings Both in-vitro and in-vivo results markedly proved that dehydrosilymarin has decent aqueous solubility and remarkable antiradical/antioxidation capacity. Moreover, 2,3-dehydrosilybin and 2,3-dehydrosilychristin were identified to be the two major active compounds contained in 2,3-dehydrosilymarin. Conclusions Our results suggest that 2,3-dehydrosilymarin may be a promising and potent alternative for inhibition of free radical and prevention of oxidation. © 2011 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.