In vitro evaluation of selected benzimidazole derivatives as an antioxidant and xanthine oxidase inhibitors.

2-Aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazole derivatives having different side chains on the structure were examined in vitro for their antioxidant abilities by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine radical scavenging activity, reducing ability, OH radical scavenging activity, inhibition of polyphenol oxidase and xanthine oxidase. Overall, with few exceptions, all the 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazoles showed moderate biological activity with all parameters examined. The 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazoles were found to be reactive toward 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine radical and had considerable reducing ability, with significant xanthine oxidase inhibition. With few exceptions, all the compounds under study were found to possess moderate-to-poor OH radical scavenging activity and inhibited polyphenol oxidase significantly. These findings suggest that these 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazoles can be considered as potential antioxidant and xanthine oxidase inhibitory agents, those might be further, explored for the design of lead antioxidant and antigout drug candidates using in vivo trials.