Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Nutrition. 2010 Apr;26(4):449-58. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2009.05.004. Epub 2009 Jul 24.
Hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, and the onset and progression of diabetic complications are strongly linked. Reduction of oxidative stress could be of utmost importance in the long-term treatment of diabetic patients. The chronic nature of the disease calls for a mode of antioxidant intake that can be sustained easily, e.g., by the diet. Erythritol, a simple polyol, could be such a compound. It is orally available, well tolerated, and its chemical structure resembles that of mannitol, a well-known hydroxyl radical (HO*) scavenger.
We studied the antioxidant properties of erythritol in vitro and subsequently determined its antioxidant activity and its vasoprotective effect in the streptozotocin diabetic rat.
Erythritol was shown to be an excellent HO* radical scavenger and an inhibitor of 2,2'-azobis-2-amidinopropane dihydrochloride-induced hemolysis but inert toward superoxide radicals. High-performance liquid chromatographic and electron spin resonance spectroscopy studies showed that the reaction of erythritol with hydroxyl radicals resulted in the formation of erythrose and erythrulose by abstraction of a carbon-bound hydrogen atom. In the streptozotocin diabetic rat, erythritol displayed an endothelium-protective effect and, in accordance with the in vitro experiments, erythrose was found in the urine of erythritol-consuming rats.
Erythritol acts as an antioxidant in vivo and may help protect against hyperglycemia-induced vascular damage.
高血糖、氧化应激与糖尿病并发症的发生和进展密切相关。降低氧化应激对于糖尿病患者的长期治疗可能至关重要。由于疾病的慢性性质，需要一种易于持续摄入的抗氧化剂方式，例如通过饮食。赤藓糖醇是一种简单的多元醇，可能就是这样一种化合物。它可口服，耐受性良好，其化学结构类似于甘露醇，甘露醇是一种众所周知的羟自由基 (HO*) 清除剂。
我们在体外研究了赤藓糖醇的抗氧化特性，随后在链脲佐菌素诱导的糖尿病大鼠中测定了其抗氧化活性和血管保护作用。
赤藓糖醇是一种极好的 HO* 自由基清除剂和 2,2'-偶氮双（2-脒基丙烷）二盐酸盐诱导的溶血抑制剂，但对超氧自由基无活性。高效液相色谱和电子自旋共振光谱研究表明，赤藓糖醇与羟基自由基的反应通过夺取碳结合氢原子形成赤藓糖和赤藓酮糖。在链脲佐菌素诱导的糖尿病大鼠中，赤藓糖醇表现出内皮保护作用，并且与体外实验一致，在消耗赤藓糖醇的大鼠尿液中发现了赤藓糖。
赤藓糖醇在体内具有抗氧化作用，可能有助于防止高血糖引起的血管损伤。
