Pteridine Derivatives as Modulators of Oxidative Stress

Authors: Oettl K.; Reibnegger G.

Source: Current Drug Metabolism, Volume 3, Number 2, April 2002 , pp. 203-209(7)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

Pteridine derivatives which have a widespread occurrence in nature have been investigated upon their interactions with free radicals and free radical mediated reactions utilizing a number of different experimental systems. Searching for biological functions, which are still unknown for the majority of pteridine compounds, the effect of pteridines in systems like luminol-induced chemiluminescence, enzyme activity, DNA photodamage, EPR experiments or radical induced injury - just to name a few - have been investigated. The general view during the initial phase of investigations on this special field was, that reduced pterins, i. e., tetra- as well as dihydropterins, generally act as radical scavengers, while aromatic pterins, if not inactive, exert radical promoting activity. Meanwhile the data available provide a more complex view: pteridines of all oxidation states have been shown to act anti- or prooxidatively, depending on the special conditions of the experiment. The reason is that reduced pterins, besides of being scavengers of free radicals, also are strongly reducing agents and therefore, in the presence of transition metal ions promote Fenton chemistry. Aromatic pterins have been described as inhibitors or substrates of enzymes involved - in vitro and in vivo - in free radical generation. Together with the unknown local concentrations of, e.g., neopterin and dihydroneopterin occurring in vivo, these reasons make it impossible to unequivocally predict a physiological net effect of pterins of different oxidation states concerning free radical mediated reactions in real biological systems.

Keywords: Pteridine derivatives; modulators; Oxidative stress; tetrahydropterins; Aromatic pterins; dihydropterins

Language: English

Document Type: Review article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389200024605127

Publication date: 2002-04-01

• Current Drug Metabolism aims to cover all the latest and outstanding developments in drug metabolism and disposition. The journal serves as an international forum for the publication of timely reviews in drug metabolism. Current Drug Metabolism is an essential journal for academic, clinical, government and pharmaceutical scientists who wish to be kept informed and up-to-date with the latest and most important developments. The journal covers the following areas:
  
  In vitro systems including CYP-450; enzyme induction and inhibition; drug-drug interactions and enzyme kinetics; pharmacokinetics, toxicokinetics, species scaling and extrapolations; P-glycoprotein and transport carriers; target organ toxicity and interindividual variability; drug metabolism and disposition studies; extrahepatic metabolism; phase I and phase II metabolism; recent developments for the identification of drug metabolites and adducts.

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• In this Subject: Anatomy & Physiology ,  Pharmacology
• By this author: Oettl K. ;  Reibnegger G.

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