Specificity of Hydrolysable Tannins from Rhus typhina L. to Oxidants in Cell and Cell-Free Models.

Polyphenols of plant origin with wide range of antiradical activity can prevent diseases caused by oxidative and inflammatory processes. In this study, we show using ESR method that the purified water-soluble extract from leaves of Rhus typhina L. containing hydrolysable tannins and its main component, 3,6-bis-O-di-O-galloyl-1,2,4-tri-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (C55H40O34), displayed a strong antiradical activity against the synthetic 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) in homogenous (solution) and heterogeneous systems (suspension of DPPH containing liposomes) in the range of 1-10 μg/ml. The C55H40O34 and extract at 1-30 μg/ml also efficiently, but to a various degree, decreased reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) formation induced in erythrocytes by oxidants, following the sequence: tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBuOOH) > peroxynitrite (ONOO-) >hypochlorous acid (HClO). The explanation of these differences should be seen in the specificity of scavenging different RONS types. These relationships can be represented for C55H40O34 and the extract by the following order of selectivity: O.-2 ≥ NO· > ·OH > 1O2. The extract exerted a more pronounced antiradical effect in reaction with DPPH and ROS in all models of oxidative stress in erythrocytes in comparison with C55H40O34. The redox processes between the extract components and their specificity in relation to RONS can underlie this effect.