Zinc, a trace mineral important to human health, may play an important role in helping to protect the body against oxidative stress. A team of researchers from Auburn University and the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg discovered that when zinc is taken together with a hydroquinone group found in foods like wine, tea, coffee, and chocolate the result is the production of a metal complex that can metabolize the superoxide responsible for oxidative stress.
“We’ve prepared a small molecule that can act as an antioxidant by catalytically degrading superoxide,” says Christian Goldsmith, associate professor at Auburn University. “The molecule is unique in that relies on a zinc ion complexed to a polyphenol to do the chemistry; other catalysts for superoxide degradation rely on redox-active metals, such as manganese.”
The approach that the researchers took has a couple of benefits, says Goldsmith. “First, we avoid using redox-active metals, which can be highly toxic. Manganese, for example, causes a neurological condition called manganism. Second, our catalyst is very effective in phosphate buffered solutions. Phosphate, which is heavily prevalent in cells, normally inhibits the activity of catalysts that degrade superoxide.”
Coffee, chocolate, and other foods naturally contain polyphenols, and consuming more zinc in addition to these could provide some benefits, says Goldsmith. “I will mention, however, that the polyphenol that we use isn’t naturally found and is a derivative that was designed specifically to tightly bind metal ions. Having additional zinc in one’s diet certainly wouldn’t hurt; I’ve seen statistics which assert that about a quarter of the world’s population suffers from zinc deficiency.”
The researchers published their study about the zinc–polyphenol complex they developed in Nature Chemistry. The next steps include conducting biological studies to investigate the antioxidant activity of combinations of zinc and different polyphenols. “The first screening suggests that simple mixtures of zinc and polyphenols are not efficient,” says Ivana Ivanovic-Burmazovic, professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. “It seems that it is important to bind zinc to polyphenols, as in our complex that we published in Nature Chemistry, in order to achieve beneficial activity. Such adducts of natural polyphenols with zinc might be then used as supplements. But this is still under our investigations.”
Source: IFT
