China-Japan Research Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, PR China.
Free Radic Res. 2010 Jan;44(1):90-100. doi: 10.3109/10715760903300717.
The pharmacological activity of polyphenolic silibinin from milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is primarily due to its antioxidant property. However, this study found that silibinin promoted sustained superoxide (O(2)(.-)) production that was specifically scavenged by exogenous superoxide dismutase (SOD) in MCF-7 cells, while the activity of endogenous SOD was not changed by silibinin. Previous work proved that silibinin induced MCF-7 cell apoptosis through mitochondrial pathway and this study further proved that O(2)(.-) generation induced by silibinin was also related to mitochondria. It was found that respiratory chain complexes I, II and III were all involved in silibinin-induced O(2)(.-) generation. Moreover, it was found that silibinin-induced O(2)(.-) had protective effect, as exogenous SOD markedly enhanced silibinin-induced apoptosis.
水飞蓟宾(奶蓟草的主要活性多酚)的药理学活性主要归因于其抗氧化特性。然而,这项研究发现,水飞蓟宾可促进持续的超氧阴离子(O(2)(.-))产生,而外源性超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)可特异性清除 MCF-7 细胞中的超氧阴离子(O(2)(.-)),同时水飞蓟宾不会改变内源性 SOD 的活性。先前的工作证明水飞蓟宾通过线粒体途径诱导 MCF-7 细胞凋亡,本研究进一步证明水飞蓟宾诱导的 O(2)(.-)生成也与线粒体有关。研究发现,呼吸链复合物 I、II 和 III 均参与了水飞蓟宾诱导的 O(2)(.-)生成。此外,还发现水飞蓟宾诱导的 O(2)(.-)具有保护作用,因为外源性 SOD 显著增强了水飞蓟宾诱导的细胞凋亡。