Antioxidative effect of sesamol and related compounds on lipid peroxidation.

The effect of sesamol and 20 related compounds on the lipid peroxidation of liposomes induced by Fe(2)+, on the lipid peroxidation of rat liver microsomes induced by CCl(4) or NADPH and on the lipid peroxidation of mitochondria induced by ascorbate/Fe(2)+ were demonstrated. Consequently, sesamol and related compounds, such as 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyquinone, isosafrol, isoeugenol, eugenol, 3,4-methylenedioxyaniline, catechol, hydroxy-hydroquinone, 3,4-dimethoxyaniline and caffeic acid, exhibited powerful inhibitory effects on the lipid peroxidation system investigated. In particular, isoeugenol was the most powerful inhibitor among all the sesamol-related compounds tested on the lipid peroxidation system. In addition, 1,2-methylenedioxybenzene, ferulic acid, and 3,4-methylenedioxynitrobenzene were also effective on the lipid peroxidation system of liposomes induced by Fe(2)+. The correlation between the structures of sesamol-related compounds and their inhibitory effect is discussed.