..................................................................................................................................................................6 LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS .....................................................................................................................8 ABBREVIATIONS..........................................................................

Anthocyanins are thought to have antioxidant effects in the body. The effects of two anthocyanins, malvidin and peonidin, on activity of antioxidant enzymes, glutathione-Stransferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), were examined in HT-29 human adenocarcinoma cells. Cells were treated with each anthocyanin or a combination of both at concentrations of 0, 5, a...

Tight control of cellular redox homeostasis is essential for protection against oxidative damage and for maintenance of normal metabolism as well as redox signaling events. Under oxidative stress conditions, the tripeptide glutathione can switch from its reduced form (GSH) to oxidized glutathione disulfide (GSSG), and thus, forms an important cellular redox buffer. GSSG is normally reduced to G...

The present study investigates the antioxidant potential of the ethyl acetate fraction of the aerial parts Eclipta alba L. Hassk (EAEA) which was widely used as hepatoprotective plant. EAEA was orally administered at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg for 7 days in male Charles Foster rats. The extent of hepatoprotective potential of E . alba was studied by assessing the biochemical para...

During inflammatory processes, immunocompetent cells are exposed to substantial amounts of free radicals and toxic compounds. Glutathione is a cysteine-containing tripeptide that an important ubiquitous antioxidant molecule produced in human organs. The intracellular content GSH regulates the detoxifying capacity cells, as well immune response. particularly liver, where it serves major non-prot...

Quercetin and galangin can change the activity of glutathione reductase. Quercetin (a catechol structure in the B-ring) and galangin (any hydroxyl group in the B-ring) have different biological activities but, both possess high antioxidant abilities. Quercetin during the antioxidative action, is converted into an oxidized products (o-semiquinone and o-quinone), and subsequently glutathionyl add...

Malaria parasites contain a complete glutathione (GSH) redox system, and several enzymes of this system are considered potential targets for antimalarial drugs. Through generation of a gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS)-null mutant of the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei, we previously showed that de novo GSH synthesis is not critical for blood stage multiplication but is essential...

Reduction of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to glutathione (GSH) by glutathione reductase (GR) enhances the efficiency of GSH-dependent antioxidant activities. However, GR-deficient (a1Neu) mice are less susceptible to acute lung injury from continuous exposure to > 95% O(2) (96 h: 6.9 +/- 0.1 g right lung/kg body versus room air 3.6 +/- 0.3) than are C3H/HeN control mice (10.6 +/- 1.3 versus 4.2...

Parasitic flatworms cause serious infectious diseases that affect humans and livestock in vast regions of the world, yet there are few effective drugs to treat them. Thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR) is an essential enzyme for redox homeostasis in flatworm parasites and a promising pharmacological target. We purified to homogeneity and characterized the TGR from the tapeworm Mesocestoides...