Abstract:

The effects of salvianolic acids (sal A) on hydroxylation of salicylic acid in EDTA- H2O2-Fe²⁺ and Vit C-H2O2-Fe²⁺ systems were studied. In the latter system, the compounds were shown to dose-dependently inhibit the hydroxylation of salicylic acid and the efficacy order was basically incorrespondence with that for anti-lipid-peroxidation. But in the former system, the effects weresomewhat complex, most of the compounds dose-dependently inhibited hydroxylation of salicylic acidexcept Sal A, which, like Vit C, promoted hydroxylation at lower concentration but inhibited it at higherconcentration. These compounds were found to chelate to or react with iron ions, but their apparentchelating constants were about 100 fold lower than that of EDTA. Salvianolic acids were thusconsidered to be hydroxyl radical scavengers.

Key words: Salvianolic acids, Hydroxyl radical, Salicylic acid hydroxylation, Apparent chelatingconstant, Iron ion