An essential difference in the reactivity of the glutathione adducts of the structurally closely related flavonoids monoHER and quercetin.

During the scavenging of free radicals flavonoids are oxidized to electrophilic quinones. Glutathione (GSH) can trap these quinones, thereby forming GSH-flavonoid adducts. The aim of this study was to compare the stability of the GSH-flavonoid adduct of 7-mono-O-(ß-hydroxyethyl)rutoside (monoHER) with that of quercetin. It was found that GSH-quercetin reacts with the thiol N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) to form NAC-quercetin, whereas GSH-monoHER does not react with NAC. In addition, the adduct of the monoHER quinone with the dithiol dithiothreitol (DTT) is relatively stable, whereas the DTT-quercetin adduct is readily converted into quercetin and DTT disulfide. These differences in reactivity of the thiol-flavonoid adducts demonstrate that GSH-monoHER is much more stable than GSH-quercetin. This difference in reactivity was corroborated by molecular quantum chemical calculations. Thus, although both flavonoid quinones are rapidly scavenged by GSH, the advantage of monoHER is that it forms a stable conjugate with GSH, thereby preventing a possible spread of toxicity. These findings demonstrate that even structurally comparable flavonoids behave differently, which will be reflected in the biological effects of these flavonoids.

Identification of the metabolites of the antioxidant flavonoid 7-mono-O-(ß-hydroxyethyl)-rutoside in mice.

The clinical use of the anticancer drug doxorubicin is limited by severe cardiotoxicity. In mice, the semisynthetic antioxidant flavonoid 7-mono-O-(ß-hydroxyethyl)-rutoside (monoHER) has been successfully used as a protector against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. However, most monoHER has already been cleared from the body at the time that doxorubicin concentrations are still high. This result suggests that not only the parent compound monoHER itself but also monoHER metabolites could be responsible for the observed cardioprotective effects in mice. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the metabolism of monoHER in mice. Mice were administered 500 mg/kg monoHER intraperitoneally. At different time points after monoHER administration, bile was collected and analyzed for the presence of monoHER metabolites. The formed metabolites were identified by liquid chromatography-diode array detection-time of flight-mass spectrometry. Thirteen different metabolites were identified. The observed routes of monoHER metabolism are methylation, glucuronidation, oxidation of its hydroxyethyl group, GSH conjugation, and hydrolysis of its disaccharide. In line with other flavonoids, methylated monoHER and the monoHER glucosides are expected to have relatively high cellular uptake and low clearance from the body. Therefore, these metabolites might contribute to the observed protection of monoHER against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

An essential difference between the flavonoids monoHER and quercetin in their interplay with the endogenous antioxidant network.

Antioxidants can scavenge highly reactive radicals. As a result the antioxidants are converted into oxidation products that might cause damage to vital cellular components. To prevent this damage, the human body possesses an intricate network of antioxidants that pass over the reactivity from one antioxidant to another in a controlled way. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the semi-synthetic flavonoid 7-mono-O-(ß-hydroxyethyl)-rutoside (monoHER), a potential protective agent against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, fits into this antioxidant network. This position was compared with that of the well-known flavonoid quercetin. The present study shows that the oxidation products of both monoHER and quercetin are reactive towards thiol groups of both GSH and proteins. However, in human blood plasma, oxidized quercetin easily reacts with protein thiols, whereas oxidized monoHER does not react with plasma protein thiols. Our results indicate that this can be explained by the presence of ascorbate in plasma; ascorbate is able to reduce oxidized monoHER to the parent compound monoHER before oxidized monoHER can react with thiols. This is a major difference with oxidized quercetin that preferentially reacts with thiols rather than ascorbate. The difference in selectivity between monoHER and quercetin originates from an intrinsic difference in the chemical nature of their oxidation products, which was corroborated by molecular quantum chemical calculations. These findings point towards an essential difference between structurally closely related flavonoids in their interplay with the endogenous antioxidant network. The advantage of monoHER is that it can safely channel the reactivity of radicals into the antioxidant network where the reactivity is completely neutralized.

Characterization of the glutathione conjugate of the semisynthetic flavonoid monoHER.

Flavonoids protect against oxidative stress by scavenging free radicals. During this protection flavonoids are oxidized. The oxidized flavonoids formed are often reactive. Consequently, protection by flavonoids can result in the formation of toxic products. In this study the oxidation of 7-mono-O-(beta-hydroxyethyl)rutoside (monoHER), which is a constituent of the registered drug Venoruton, was studied in the absence and presence of glutathione (GSH). MonoHER was oxidized by horseradish peroxidase/H(2)O(2). Spectrophotometric and HPLC analysis showed that in the presence of GSH, a monoHER-GSH conjugate was formed, which was identified as 2'-glutathionyl monohydroxyethylrutoside by mass spectrometric analysis and (1)H NMR. Preferential formation of this glutathione adduct in the B ring at C2' was confirmed by molecular quantum chemical calculations. This conjugate was also detected in the bile fluid of a healthy volunteer after iv administration of monoHER, demonstrating its formation in vivo. These results indicate that in the process of offering protection against free radicals, monoHER is converted into an oxidation product that is reactive toward thiols. The formation of this thiol-reactive oxidation product is potentially harmful. Thus, the supposed beneficial effect of monoHER as an antioxidant may be accompanied by the formation of products with an electrophilic, toxic potential.