Antioxidant/prooxidant effects of α-tocopherol, quercetin and isorhamnetin on linoleic acid peroxidation induced by Cu(II) and H2O2.

The peroxidation of linoleic acid (LA) in the presence of copper(II) (Cu(II)) ions alone and with α-tocopherol (α-TocH) was investigated in aerated and incubated emulsions at 37 °C and pH 7. Additionally, the effects of quercetin (QR) and its O-methylated derivative, isorhamnetin (IR), as potential antioxidant protectors were studied in the (Cu(II) + TocH)-induced LA peroxidation system. Cu(II)-induced LA peroxidation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with respect to primary (hydroperoxides) and secondary (aldehydes- and ketones-like) oxidation products, which were determined by ferric thiocyanate and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances methods, respectively. As opposed to the concentration-dependent (at 0.6 and 10.0 µM) prooxidative action of α-TocH in the absence of QR and IR, the latter two compounds showed antioxidant effect over TocH. The peroxidation of LA in the presence of Cu(II)-H(2)O(2) combination alone and with TocH, QR and IR were also investigated in aerated and incubated emulsions, where the latter three compounds exhibited antioxidant effects.