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Feng and Liu
With the increase of the concentration of OHC, hemin-induced
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hemolysis is prohibited efficiently, revealing that OHC can
stabilize erythrocyte membrane remarkably. In addition to the
phenolic hydroxyl group, two hydroxyl groups attached to the
carbon chain make OHC a perfect membrane stabilizer. How-
ever, THC plays almost no protective role in hemin-induced
hemolysis, indicating that enolic and phenolic hydroxyl groups
cannot stabilize erythrocyte membrane if they are not connected
with a conjugative system. However, BEC even possesses a
protective capacity similar to that of curcumin. Although BDC
has two phenolic hydroxyl groups, its protective effect on
erythrocyte against hemin-induced hemolysis is not enhanced
significantly compared with that of curcumin. Thus, the hydroxyl
group attached to the carbon chain plays the major role in
stabilizing erythrocyte membrane.
In conclusion, the phenolic hydroxyl group in curcumin
scavenges radicals by donating its H atom to radicals, and the
enolic hydroxyl group in curcumin can reduce radicals. The
hydroxyl group attached to the carbon chain is beneficial for
curcumin to stabilize erythrocyte membrane. Curcumin is a
phenolic antioxidant; its effectiveness is mainly contributed by
the hydroxyl group.
(
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After the original ASAP posting of September 8, 2009,
significant insertions were incorporated to reference previous
work. These changes are included in the ASAP posting of
October 30, 2009.
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Received June 29, 2009. Revised manuscript received August 22, 2009.
Accepted August 28, 2009. We thank the National Natural Science
Foundation, China, for financial support.