Synthesis and evaluation of lipid peroxidase inhibition of 4-methyl substituted coumarins

Trough recent studies, aging, cancer, atherosclerosis, and some other serious diseases have been confirmed to correlate with low density lipoprotein (LDL), cell membranes, and DNA exposed to oxidative stress (Finkel et al., 2000). In conditions of oxidative stress, in interaction with generated free radicals, polyunsaturated fatty acids can undergo oxidative damage, which results in the initiation of lipid peroxidation (LP). Oxidative stress and the resulting LP are involved in the pathogenesis of numerous chronic and degenerative diseases which seriously impair the quality of life (Pinchuk et al., 2012). That is why numerous researches are aimed at finding substances with antioxidant properties. Coumarins are scaffolds widely distributed in nature, possess numerous therapeutic applications including photochemotherapy, antitumor and anti-HIV therapy (Borges et al., 2005). They are proven antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agents, and anti-coagulants. In addition to a wide array of pharmacological activities, several evidences indicate that coumarins may act as antioxidants or regulator of antioxidant activity (Pérez-Cruz et al., 2012). Although reported papers can be related to an antioxidant activity of coumarins, the characterization of the antioxidant profile of coumarins is at present lacking. In this study the evaluation of antioxidative properties of four synthetic coumarin derivatives have been investigated by a LP assay.