Doctoral Dissertations

Weili Fan

Abstract

"Most medicinal drugs have adverse effects. Among the most commonly used of these drugs are several types, known as "oxidative drugs". These are believed to cause adverse effects that induce oxidative stress, an imbalance of generation and detoxification of reactive oxygen species. So it is a reasonable assumption that the antioxidant might alleviate the toxicity induced by these drugs. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a synthetic thiol, is a free-radical scavenger and a precursor of glutathione (the main endogenous antioxidant). However, the negative charge of NAC at physiological pH limits its bioavailability. N-acetylcysteineamide (NACA) is neutral in charge and is believed to have higher lipophilicity than NAC. Experiments were designed to determine the potential protective ability of NACA against different oxidative drugs. Positive results from our studies show that NACA seems to be a broad-spectrum protector that prevents oxidative damage. This underscores NACA's potential for serving as a clinical protective antioxidant for patients who receive potentially dangerous oxidative drugs. Sutherlandia frutescens (SF), a legume native to South Africa, is a historical herb medicine for treatment of a variety of disorders. It is believed that SF therapeutic effects are at least partially due to its antioxidant potential. Cell-free studies were conducted for reducing power, radical-scavenging power and metal-chelating capacity of SF extract, as well as in-vitro study for its possible protective role against exogenous oxidative stress in three cell lines. Positive results from our preliminary studies further verified the antioxidant effect of SF, indicating its promising future as an antioxidant supplementation for clinical purpose"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Ercal, Nuran

Committee Member(s)

Ma, Yinfa
Nam, Paul Ki-souk
Reddy, Prakash
Huang, Yue-wern

Department(s)

Chemistry

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Chemistry

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Summer 2014

Pagination

xiv, 145 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-144).

Rights

© 2014 Weili Fan, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Oxidative stressAntioxidants -- Physiological effectActive oxygen -- Physiological effect

Thesis Number

T 10529

Electronic OCLC #

894225299

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Chemistry Commons

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